Robberies lead to four arrests arrest chase

'It's a wonder somebody didn't get hurt' after police vehicle collision

Article contributed by The Journal Record

By LOUIS MELLINI
Staff Writer
 
GUIN - Four suspects have been apprehended following a string of early morning robberies in Guin and Fulton, Miss.
 
Mya Chrishelle Gaines, 19; Montavious Dewayne Dean, 20; Malik Rushard Wilson, 20; and a juvenile offender aged 16, all from Memphis, Tenn., were arrested and charged with receiving stolen property, first degree, and attempting to elude.
 
All suspects, except for the juvenile, are being held in the Marion County Jail in Hamilton.
According to Marion County Sheriff Kevin Williams, the group started their offenses in Fulton, Miss., before hitting stores in Guin including a package store and the Chevron gas station located on Highway 44 downhill from the Holiday Inn in Guin.
 
Tiffany Ables, front desk manager at the Holiday Inn, stated that the employee opening the Chevron station that morning came to collect the keys at the hotel and planned to open the store at the bottom of the hill before seeing the suspects flee.
 
"I go up there every morning to get the keys. When I went up there, there was no vehicle here in the parking lot," said the Guin Chevron manager Jessica Mauldin.
 
Mauldin stated that there was no vehicle at the property when she went to retrieve the keys but, when she returned, the suspects were in the middle of their alleged theft.
 
"(The suspects) were parked right (in front of the store) with their emergency lights flashing. As I pulled in, two guys came running out and so I went back to the hotel.
 
"There was a man sleeping in his truck out (in the parking lot). He said , before they came over to the door, they were messing around with his truck and he said that one of them had a gun," Mauldin continued. "It scared me to death."
 
Owners at the Holiday Inn in Guin own the Cehvron located down the hill from the property.
Holiday Inn in Guin manager Jay Johnson stated that the suspects fled the station with $300 in cash as well as a few blank checks.
 
The vehicle being used during these crimes was a gray Infinity that Williams stated was stolen out of Memphis.
 
Two of the suspects broke into the Chevron building using a yellow crow bar and took the entire register off of the counter.
 
Williams stated that, from the gas station, the suspects drove onto Interstate 22 heading east.
Sheriff's Deputy Jerard Tidwell began chasing after the suspects on Highway 233.
 
"The car chase went all the way into Walker County," said Williams.
 
Williams stated that Tidwell saw the suspects pulled off on the side of the road with all of their lights turned off before the chase began.
 
The suspects, before the chase began, had thrown the cash register stolen from the Chevron out of the vehicle.
 
Tidwell chased the suspects all the way to exit 54 on I-22 in Walker County, where they attempted to lose the deputy by taking back roads before attempting to go back towards I-22.
As they attempted to escape, the suspects got into a collision with Tidwell's vehicle and exited the vehicle in attempts to escape on foot.
 
Williams stated that Tidwell escaped the collision with no injuries.
 
"The Department of Corrections' K-9 unit was called to the scene and they arrived pretty quick," said Williams.
 
"When I got there, they had apprehended one of them pretty quick off in the woods. Later on, the dogs tracked another one."
 
Williams stated that the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department used their helicopter to help apprehend the suspects and the Walker County Sheriff's Department.
 
Williams stated that the suspects were carrying $3,000 in stolen cash. The suspects were also carrying in the vehicle: cartons of cigarettes, several lighters, jewelry, crow bars, gloves, power tools, a shotgun along with two handguns and a green mask.
 
Williams stated that he was thankful Tidwell was able to help stop the suspects.
 
"Jerard did a wonderful job. He was in the right place at the right time. He knew what to do," said Williams. "It's a wonder somebody didn't get hurt."
 

Photos contributed by The Journal Record