(May 23, 2008)—Billie Jo Allen, 21, of Waco and Anthony Garcia, 19, of Waco were in custody Friday and police were looking for a second man, Augustine “Tito” Perez, 20, also of Waco, in connection with the kidnapping and robbery of one local man and the robbery of another.
Perez should be considered armed and dangerous, police said.
Robinson police arrested Allen and Garcia after a traffic stop around 8 p.m. Thursday.
Allen pulled over, but police said Garcia attempted to escape on foot.
Robinson officers, however, captured him.
At the time of the arrest, Allen was already wanted for aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping in connection with an incident in which a man who was invited to accompany a woman back to her apartment was kidnapped and robbed by two men.
Police found Joe Lewis, 34, with a gunshot wound to the groin just before 6 a.m. Thursday in the 3300 block of North 20th Street.
Lewis told officers a woman had invited him earlier Thursday morning to her apartment in the South Terrace Apartment complex.
He told officers that while he was there, two Hispanic men who were arguing with each other entered the apartment.
One suddenly pulled out a pistol and pointed it at Lewis, who was then tied up and forced into the back seat of his red 2007 Dodge Quad Cab.
Lewis told officers the men drove him to the intersection of North 20th Street and Edna Avenue, where they took him out of the truck and shot him.
The men then drove off in Lewis’ truck, with his maroon 2007 Suzuki motorcycle in the bed.
Lewis made his way to a nearby residence and asked the homeowner to call police.
He was taken to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center with what police said were non-life-threatening injuries.
Officers responding to a report of a suspicious vehicle found the stolen truck with the motorcycle still in the back just before 11:30 a.m. in an alley between the 2200 blocks of Alexander and Mitchell Avenues.
Allen and Garcia are also charged with aggravated robbery in connection with an early-morning hold-up Wednesday.
Then just before 4 a.m. Wednesday, Waco officers were dispatched to a report of a carjacking in the area of South 12th Street and Gurley Lane.
Juan Salas of Waco reported to police that as he was about to get out of his vehicle, two men approached on foot, brandished a small pistol and forced him out of the truck.
Salas threw the keys of his black 1996 Chevrolet truck and ran to hide behind a nearby church.
As Salas was calling the police, he saw the men take his truck and drive north on South 12th Street.
Police pursued the vehicle, but the men escaped on foot after the truck crashed into a tree at the Brazos Place Apartment Complex in the 600 block of South University Parks Drive.
Police are asking anyone with information about Perez’ whereabouts to call either the Waco Police Department at (254) 750-7500 or Waco Crime Stoppers at (254) 753-HELP.
The incidents were part of a series of violent robberies that started last weekend with the abduction of a Baylor University coed, who was forced at gunpoint to drive to another part of town where she was robbed.
She was able to escape and went to a nearby residence for help.
Police found her vehicle abandoned several blocks away.
One of the men involved in that carjacking was Hispanic, about 20, 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-8, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and a white tank top.
The other man was black, in his early 20s with a medium build and was wearing a light gray hooded sweatshirt and red shorts.
Early Wednesday morning, John Huerta, 24, was shot twice by two men who burst into the bedroom of his home in the 900 block of North 17th Street.
The men stole jewelry and Huerta’s wallet.
Huerta was able to drive himself to Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center.
The men for whom police are looking in that incident are both black and between 16 and 20 years of age.
Both are between 5-foot-5 and 5-foot-9 and both had slender builds, police said.
One was wearing a white T-shirt and the other a black T-shirt, police said.