A Forest Park man is in jail and charged in connection with armed robberies of the Game Star store in Covington and the Radio Shack and GNC stores in Conyers.
Tavaris Montez Minor, 35, is charged with two counts each of armed robbery and aggravated assault. He was booked into the Rockdale County jail early Saturday. Investigators said they also are trying to determine whether Minor may be connected to armed robberies in Cobb, Douglas and Clayton counties.
Conyers Police Department Lt. Jack Dunn said detectives immediately noticed similar methods in both the April 8 Radio Shack robbery and March 30 GNC robbery where the suspect took the driver’s licenses of the victims. They also knew Covington investigators were looking into a similar robbery on March 25 at the Game Star store on Ga. Highway 278.
Investigative work led police to Minor. Dunn said, “In Covington's case, there was a phone call before the robbery in which someone asked a particular question. That question was repeated by the robber.”
When officers traced the phone number, it led them to Minor, who was out on parole since 2007 for robberies at Blockbuster stores. When officers spoke with Minor’s parole officer, they learned he had not reported back to the parole officer recently. A parole photograph of Minor also showed similar clothes to images from security cameras at the Covington Game Star.
With the aid of Cobb County police, officers arrested Minor as he drove up to his wife’s home in Austell. Minor did not resist arrest.
In the back seat of the car, officers could see clothes similar to the ones worn by the suspect in security camera footage. In the trunk of his car, they found a tool bag with several masks, hand guns, and about seven or eight driver’s licenses belonging to the robbery victims.
Cobb County detectives recognized Minor from lookout alerts and security camera images for robberies in Cobb County as well as similarities to incidents in Douglas County and Morrow
Conyers Police Department Capt. Mike Waters said investigators had put in many hours and traveled many miles to solve the case and find the suspect.
The GNC store in Conyers on Ga. Highway 20 was robbed March 30 when a gunman came into the store and put a gun to the lone employee's head. The suspect then fled on foot.
The Radio Shack in Conyers was also struck on April 8 as employees were closing up for the evening. A black male, described as being about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, came in around 9 p.m. The suspect reportedly asked for the manager and then drew a gun, demanding all the cash in the drawer. The suspect also demanded the manager open the safe but was told it was on time delay.
The suspect then took identification cards from both employees and forced them to lie face down on the floor before he left, warning the two employees to wait five minutes before getting up.
