Officers in 2 counties investigate Saturday crime

Law enforcement officials in Covington and Conecuh counties arrested four individuals Saturday – including an Andalusia teen –  after an alleged robbery in the front yard of a residence on Martin Street in Evergreen.

According to Evergreen Police Sgt. Mike Ellis, officers responded to a reported robbery Saturday around 2:20 p.m. at a Martin Street residence in which the victim, a 26-year-old man, described his assailants and their vehicles. One assailant, who was armed with a large handgun, took between $300 and $400 from the victim, police said.

Evergreen police stopped one of the vehicles involved in the robbery a short distance away on West Front Street, and a short time later Covington County Sheriff’s deputies stopped the other vehicle involved in the alleged robbery. The first vehicle was occupied by 18-year-old Ladonna Washington of Brewton and 17-year-old Isaiah D. Thomas, who were both charged with first-degree robbery. Thomas is being charged as an adult in connection with the incident, officials said.

The second vehicle was occupied by 18-year-old Marteez L. Wilkerson of Andalusia, who was arrested and charged with second-degree armed robbery, and Ashley Shakespeare, 20, who was already wanted on theft charges in Covington County. During a search of Wilkerson, officers recovered the large handgun described by the robbery victim in Evergreen, Ellis said.

Officers transported Washington, Thomas and Wilkerson to the Conecuh County Jail in Evergreen. Wilkerson remained in jail Tuesday afternoon, but Washington and Thomas were released Monday on bond. Covington County deputies took Shakespeare into custody during the traffic stop Saturday and transported her to jail in Andalusia, where she is being held on second-degree theft of property charges. She remained in jail there Tuesday on a $20,000 bond.

Ellis thanked the Covington County Sheriff’s Department for their assistance in the case, saying that their ability to quickly stop the second vehicle involved in the incident played a big role in the robbery investigation. Ellis noted that no one was injured in the robbery incident.

Wilkerson made headlines in The Star-News in September when he was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery and fourth-degree theft of property in connection with a drive-by type shooting on Andalusia’s Oak Street on Aug. 11. Wilkerson was one of a number of people arrested in connection with the incident, including a Moss Point, Miss. man who was charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling. Wilkerson’s bond was set at $165,000 in connection with that incident, but a Covington County court

Evergreen Courant editor Lee Peacock and the Star-News’ Christopher Smith reported this story.