BAINBRIDGE, Ga. (WTXL) — A pair of cousins from Tallahassee have been arrested after authorities say they stole large amounts of cigarettes during a multi-day robbery spree in South Georgia.
On April 28 just before 5 p.m., Bainbridge Public Safety officers received a call regarding an armed robbery at The Country Store on Dothan Road.
Officers responded to the scene and were told that a man had come into the store and tried to buy a large amount of merchandise, including cigarettes.
While standing at the counter, man flashed a gun at the store clerk, and then jumped over the counter, snatching a money box containing approximately $700 in cash and merchandise valued at approximately $200.
The man then left the building and left the scene in a white SUV.
Through an investigation, BPS learned that a week before the incident on April 28, a man walked into the Bainbridge Express convenience store, also located on Dothan Road, and tried to buy a large amount of cigarettes.
When the card he used for payment was declined, the man grabbed the cigarettes and ran away from the store.
Investigators later discovered that the burgundy SUV the suspect was driving during the theft had been stolen out of Tallahassee. After reviewing security footage, officers determined that the same suspect was responsible for both incidents.
During the investigation, investigators also got information from the Cairo Police Department that a similar incident had occurred in Cairo the night of April 27.
The incident also involved the theft of a large amount of cigarettes from a convenience store by a male suspect. They said the suspect was driving a white SUV that they discovered had been stolen out of Tallahassee. After reviewing security footage, officers determined that tit was the same suspect was responsible both of the Bainbridge incidents.
The afternoon of April 29, BPS received a call from the Cairo Police Department relaying that an officer had found the white SUV used in the Cairo robbery and believed it to be the same vehicle involved in the armed robbery at The Country Store in Bainbridge.
At the time, Cairo police officers were also in pursuit of the white SUV which had drove away from a traffic stop.
Authorities said the driver of the SUV led Cairo police and Grady County Sheriff’s deputies through Cairo and then headed southbound towards the Georgia/Florida line. At some point, the driver, later identified as 30-year-old Antonio Deyounks, hit a Grady County patrol vehicle.
The chase ended in Florida just over the state line at the intersection of Concord and Barber Roads.
Officers say Deyounks got out of the vehicle and tried to run away, but was arrested after a brief chase. He was found to be in possession of a firearm.
Authorities then spoke to the passenger in the car, identified as 33-year-old Jonathan Ceasor.
Both Deyounks and Ceasor were detained and transported to Bainbridge Public Safety where they were interviewed.
During the interview, Ceasor admitted to stealing the burgundy SUV from Tallahassee and admitted to using it in the Bainbridge Express theft.
Ceasor also told investigators where to find the vehicle.
BPS said he also admitted to stealing the white SUV from another location in Tallahassee and using it commit the theft in Cairo on April 27 as well as the armed robbery of The Country Store in Bainbridge the following day.
Ceasor also admitted to committing multiples thefts in Florida.
Deyounks told investigators that Ceasor was his cousin and that they drove together to The Country Store where Ceasor robbed the business at gunpoint on April 28.
Both men were also interviewed by Tallahassee Police and Leon County Sheriff’s Office investigators.
Basedd on the evidence, Ceasor was charged with armed robbery, robbery by sudden snatching, and bringing stolen property into the state.
Deyounks was charged with armed robbery.
Additional charges for both men are pending through the Cairo Police Department, Grady County Sheriff’s Department, Tallahassee Police Department, and the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.
