HILLSBOROUGH, NORTH CAROLINA: In a robbery at a Waffle House on July 11, three people were caught: Tamiko Lashun Jones, Tony Eugene Lemon, and Diamond Walton. Jones and Lemon are both from Marshall, Texas, and Walton is from Longview, Texas.
On Wednesday, July 13, the Hillsborough police said that they had caught the suspects with help from the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and the US Marshals Service. Now, all three suspects have been charged with armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and cheating an innkeeper.
Before the arrest, the Hillsborough Police Department put out a statement saying, “At about 1:55 p.m. on July 11, officers from the Hillsborough Police Department went to the Waffle House at 110 Daniel Boone St. Witnesses said that after ordering food, one of the three suspects pulled out a gun and told an employee to give him the cash from the register drawer. Once the worker gave in, the three suspects took off in two different cars.”
In the next part of the release, which gave more information about the theft, it said, “A silver sedan was said to be one of the cars. The other car was said to be a Ford F-150 with Texas license plates that was dark red. Last seen, both cars were going north on Interstate 85. One Black man and two Black women were named as the suspects.” Police also said that the last time they saw both cars, they were going north on I-85, which has on-ramps just a block away from Daniel Boone Street. This is where the suspects were caught.
Police officials told the NY Post that the suspects were part of a family of six people who went to the Waffle House in Shelby, North Carolina for a meal before robbing it. Police officials said that after Lemon ate, he pulled out a gun and started demanding money from the restaurant staff. Then he ran to the next-door Daniel Boone Shell Service Center. After getting the money, the three suspects drove away in two different cars, a burgundy Ford F-150 truck with Texas license plates and a newer model silver Ford Fusion sedan, also with Texas license plates, witnesses said.
Police said that Jones and Lemon were charged with similar crimes in Minden, Louisiana, a few days before the Waffle House robbery, and that they could be charged with more crimes after this case. They are supposed to go to court for the first time on July 26 in Orange County.