Two men face charges of strongarm robbery and evading police after a man walked out of Home Depot with a stolen nailer on Wednesday. Witnesses told Orange police the thief dragged a woman employee who tried to stop him out of the store. The woman was then dragged to the ground when the two drove away in a pickup truck as the clerk was holding onto the stolen box.
A witness in a vehicle in the parking lot followed the thieves’ pickup truck down Strickland Drive until Orange police could arrive. The truck led police on a chase north on MLK Drive and then onto Pheasant Street in Pinehurst. One of the men ran off into a trailer park, but police caught him.
Officer D.B. Mulhollan reported 33-year-old William Joseph Robinson and 49-year-old Timothy James Livingston, both of Orange, were arrested and charged with felony strongarm robbery. A shoplifting charge would have been a minimum misdemeanor.
Officer Mulhollan said the theft was reported at 12:38 p.m. Wednesday. He said a man in a vehicle in the parking lot saw the incident and when the theives’ older Ford F150 pickup sped away, the man followed the truck.
The officer was told the citizen was stopped behind the fleeing truck at the traffic light on Strickland at 37th Street. Officer Mulhollan said the citizen moved to the side when he arrived in his police vehicle and then he got behind the truck.
He reported he turned sirens and emergency lights, but the truck refused to stop. He saw the passenger pointing toward MLK Drive. The driver turned down MLK and headed northbound. The truck still would not stop. It swerved in and out of traffic before turning onto Pheasant. The passenger ran into a nearby trailer park. Another officer ran after him and caught him.
Officer Mulhollan said Robinson was the driver and told him Livingston asked for a ride to Home Depot. Robinson said he stayed in the truck and didn’t know Livingston was going to steal anything. when Livingston came out, he told Robinson to drive away.
Police recovered the Paslode cordless framing nailer, which was still in the box.
Social Media