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2 men charged in armed robberies

Authorities say other cases may be related

Robert C. Reed | Hickory Daily Record

Members of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office and Hickory Police Department raided a private residence on Robinson Road on Thursday afternoon. The raid was in reference to two June 1 armed robberies similar in nature.

By Richard Gould | Hickory Daily Record

Published: June 12, 2009

HICKORY - Investigators have arrested two men they think were involved with multiple armed robberies, including two last week where the suspects followed the victims into their driveways and robbed them at gunpoint.

Area law enforcement agencies think the duo may have been behind at least three similar robberies since mid-May.

Police arrested Mykael Killian Thompson, 21, of 13th Street Drive, NE, on Tuesday. He was charged with robbery with a firearm. He is being held in the Catawba County jail on a $75,000 bond.

Alexander Emanuel Moss, 18, of Robinson Road, was arrested Thursday as police executed a search warrant at his home. Police charged Moss with robbery with a firearm and resist, delay, obstruct public officer. He is being held on no bond.

The suspects were charged with a robbery that happened June 1 at 19th Avenue Circle, NE. Police said the suspects approached the victim as he returned to his home. The two men rushed into his garage armed with a gun and demanded money, according to police.

According to the police report, the victim told the suspects to get out of his house. The men again demanded money, so the victim threw his wallet to them. The two suspects fled the garage and got into a dark, two-door vehicle.

Roughly 20 minutes later, a similar robbery was reported at a home on Canterbury Drive in Conover — just four miles away from the location of the first robbery.

"We think they're connected," said Chief Deputy Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff's Office. "We're not in a position where we have enough information to arrest them, but the investigation is ongoing."

Reid said the victim pulled into his driveway on Canterbury Drive in Conover and got out of his car, Reid said.

"A black male approached him and told him to give him everything he's got," he said.

The victim didn't have any money in his wallet, Reid said. At that point, another black man walked toward the victim. The pair saw the man's tool bag in the back seat of his car, pointed an automatic gun at him, grabbed the bag from the car and left, he said.

Hickory Police Capt. Thurman Whisnant said the robberies are similar to one that happened the week of May 25, when two Lenoir-Rhyne University students were robbed at gunpoint in a parking lot on Seventh Avenue, NE, at about midnight.

Two men matching a description of the suspects given in the June 1 robbery approached the car, brandished a handgun and robbed the male student of his wallet, Whisnant said.

Investigator John Little of the Conover Police Department said he is investigating a fourth robbery that appears to be connected.

He declined to give details of the robbery, citing his reluctance to jeopardize an ongoing investigation.
Little said the robbery took place behind the Conover Kmart in mid- to late May and may be related to the others.

He has been in communication with the Hickory and Newton police departments and the sheriff's office during his investigation.

"We're all working on similar cases," Little said.