• Suspects hosed-off in backyard of local residence after robbery 

 

Curtis Cook

Taurus White

 

 

By Michael E. Palmer

Staff Writer 

 

WINFIELD - Two Carbon Hill men are behind bars after being charged for the Aug. 23 armed robbery of Moore’s B&B in Winfield.

 

Curtis Cook, 37, and Taurus White, 23, are both being held in the Marion County Jail in Hamilton on bonds of $120,000 each.

 

Sgt. Brad Burroughs of the Winfield Police Department said an individual with a hoodie pulled tight around his face entered the store at approximately 12:58 a.m. and brandished a handgun to the female cashier.

 

“The guy came in and said, ‘Give me all the money or I’m going to shoot you,’” Burroughs said, citing the cashier’s witness statement.

“She gave him the money and hit the panic alarm.”

 

Burroughs said the suspect was in the store for no more than 20 seconds and left running with $368 of the store’s money.

 

Burroughs said when an armed robbery call goes out, all nearby agencies respond.

 

“Brilliant Police Department, Guin Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) all responded.”

 

Burroughs said officers with the Winfield PD arrived less than two minutes after the panic alarm and began the investigation.

 

Burroughs, who was the on-call investigator, along with WPD Chief Brett Burleson and Special Agent Senior Jamey Bozeman of the State Bureau of Investigation, arrived on the scene  to assist in the investigation.

 

Burroughs said approximately three hours after the robbery, a caller notified the police of a suspicious person walking on the Bankhead Highway near Marion County Highway 72 east of Winfield.

 

Burroughs said officers made contact with the individual and took down his name and information, but had no reason to hold him since he didn’t fit the suspect’s clothing description.

 

Burroughs said that person, Curtis Cook, turned out to be an accompliss of the robber, Taurus White.

 

Burroughs said video from a security camera located at a residence across the street from Moore’s B&B, video evidence from Barbara Anne’s Place in Eldridge and information from the Carbon Hill Police Department led to the arrest of Cook on Aug. 27 and White on Aug. 29.

 

Burroughs said the video evidence from the residence showed the suspects in the backyard hosing down with a water hose after they had left the store.

 

Burroughs said the next day an abandoned vehicle was reported sitting in front of Holcomb’s Wrecker Service, which is located next door to Moore’s B&B. That vehicle was registered in the name of one of the suspect’s girlfriends.

 

“I don’t know if they left the keys or dropped the keys somewhere, but the vehicle, a black Ford Escape, was left. We recovered it the next day along with some clothing items that they had thrown down, and the bag they put the money in,” Burroughs said.

 

Cook was arrested at his residence on 4th Street Northwest in Carbon Hill.

 

Burroughs said White was arrested at the Cordova Police Department after attempting to file a stolen vehicle report.

 

Burroughs said he wanted to thank 25th Judicial District Attorney’s Office Investigator Lt. Rusty Hulsey, Special Agent Senior Jamey Bozeman of the State Bureau of Investigation, the Winfield Police Department, the Brilliant, Guin, Carbon Hill and Cordova police departments, the MCSO and the FCSO for their assistance in the case.

 

“It was a team effort, for sure,” Burroughs said.