Three Centreville residents and a Fairfax man have been charged with robbery by Prince William County police. But besides the crime in that county, they're suspected of a series of robberies in the Centreville area, as well.
They are Alfonzo Franklin Stallings, 19, and Amber Michelle Lewis, 18, both of 13948 Gunners Place in Centreville, a 16-year-old juvenile from Centreville and Michael Donnelle Ford, 21, of 5522 Paxford Court in Fairfax.
Police arrested them following a May 24 robbery at the intersection of Maplewood Drive and Old Centreville Road in Prince William County. According to police spokesman John Bogert, around 11:46 p.m., a Manassas man was walking on Maplewood when he was approached by three men who demanded money.
"He said he didn't have any, and he was punched and knocked to the ground by one of them," said Bogert. "They then stole his cell phone and drove off. The victim was treated and released at the scene, and a lookout was broadcast for a dark vehicle."
That's were Fairfax County police — specifically, Officer A.P. Jantosciak of the Sully District Station — came in. And in a May 31 affidavit for a warrant to search the alleged getaway car, he presented the details of the case.
On May 24, he received a lookout from the Public Safety Communications Center about a "strong-arm robbery" (by force) that had just occurred in Prince William near the Fairfax County line. "The suspects left the scene in a black, four-door, compact car," wrote Jantosciak. "[They] were described as wearing dark-colored bandanas and dark-colored hats."
The officer was able to locate a vehicle matching that description. And the subsequent traffic stop he made of it resulted in the arrest of the car's occupants for the robbery in Prince William.
The vehicle was a black, four-door, 2006 Toyota Corolla. Jantosciak wrote that, during a consent search of that car, he removed from it the cell phone allegedly stolen during the Prince William robbery. "The vehicle also contained dark-colored bandanas, dark-colored hats and a small baseball bat," he wrote.
Howver, he noted that only items involved in the Prince William robbery were searched for at the time. Then the car was brought to the Sully District Police Station and held as evidence.
In Jantosciak's May 31 affidavit, he sought to examine that car on behalf of Fairfax County police and he explained why. "Beginning in January 2006 through May, the Centreville area began having a series of robberies," he wrote. "The Centreville-area robbery suspects have the same method of operation as the arrested suspects from the Prince William County robbery."
He noted that those suspects "match the description of the suspects in the robberies in the Centreville area." Furthermore, added the officer, "During subsequent interviews of the suspects, they [allegedly] implicated themselves in some of the robberies occurring in the Centreville area."
Jantosciak wrote that, after being advised of their Miranda rights, the suspects reportedly made statements that the owner of the Toyota Corolla from the traffic stop allegedly "drove them to and from several of the robberies in the Centreville area." And, wrote the officer, "Eyewitness accounts reveal that a dark-colored compact car was seen leaving the area of some of the Centreville robberies."
Based on these facts, he stated, he wanted to search the Toyota further to investigate the Centreville crimes. "The suspects in the Centreville-area robberies have used handguns, baseball bats and knives to facilitate their acts of violence," he wrote. "[They've] been described as wearing dark-colored clothing, dark-colored bandanas and black ski masks."
Jantosciak wrote that he hoped to find property stolen in these robberies, including a black Southpole jacket, bank and I.D. cards, keys, a CD player, a wallet and a Samsung cell phone. He executed the warrant May 31 at 6:52 p.m. and seized from the car: A 24-inch, black, Louisville Slugger baseball bat; black and blue baseball caps; a black-and-white bandana; a black NBA shirt; a black, hooded sweatshirt; a black T-shirt; a mini DVD player and recorder, a digital video camera recorder, a digital camera and a Motorola razor cell phone.
Fairfax County police spokeswoman Mary Mulrenan said Tuesday these suspects have not yet been charged with the Centreville offenses, but charges are pending. Meanwhile, the teen was released to a family member. Lewis and Ford were both released on bond and have June 27 court dates, as does Stallings, but he's being held in jail without bond.