UNION COUNTY, N.C. — Two men were charged and authorities are searching for a third after they allegedly robbed a cellphone shop owner Monday night during a transaction initiated through WhatsApp in the CVS Pharmacy parking lot near Sun Valley High School, the Union County Sheriff’s Office said.
Wardell Alonzo Sherrill, Jr., 21, of Charlotte and Carlos Jimenez, Jr, age 22, of Vernon, Connecticut, were arrested on fugitive warrants Thursday morning by a Vernon, Connecticut SWAT team.
Authorities are still searching for Erik Alexander Jimenez, 22, of Connecticut for his alleged involvement in the crime.
When the shop owner, who routinely buys large numbers of phones, he met up with the suspects, Sherrill pulled a gun on the victim and stole a large sum of cash and a personal phone, police said.
The stolen phone was found later, and it had Sherrill’s fingerprints on it, police said.
Investigators later identified the other two suspects.
“Our deputies, detectives and crime scene investigators have worked together along with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Real Time Crime Center to link these suspects to a stolen rental car and eventually to this robbery,” Sheriff Eddie Cathey said in a news release. “We are very grateful to the Vernon Police Department and the Capital Region Emergency Services Team (CREST) for the successful and safe apprehension of two of these suspects yesterday.”
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