Different suspects, different crimes, same sledge hammer

   




   Texarkana, Texas, police Sunday arrested three suspects earlier in the day in sledge hammer capers at two area businesses.

    Mark Love, 25, unknown address, LaQuentin Estell, 19, and Courtney Wright, 22, both of Texarkana, Texas, were taken into custody booked into jail at the Bi-State Justice Center. 

    The first burglary call came in to Texarkana, Texas, police around 2 a.m. Sunday. The call was from the Audio Center in the area of College Drive and North Stateline Avenue. 

When officers arrived at the Audio Center, they found that the front glass had been shattered.  No suspects were located at this time. 

  After viewing security tape footage, officers determined that the suspects used what appeared to be a small sledge hammer to shatter the glass.  Two black males were seen entering the business.  At this time, it was unknown what items, if any, were removed from the store. 

Shortly after 5 a.m., officers received a call of on a robbery at the EZ-Mart convenience store located in the 5600 block of Summerhill Road. 

Officers were advised that the suspect shattered the glass in the front door with a sledge hammer.  The black male suspect entered the store with his face covered and threatened to kill the clerk if she did not give him the store's money. 

The suspect left the store with an undetermined amount of money and got into a gray vehicle in the parking lot of the store. 

Within minutes, officer Jeremy Courtney stopped a vehicle matching the suspect's vehicle description in the 4900 block of Cowhorn Creek.  Officers who had watched the security tape footage from the Audio Center burglary arrived and immediately identified two of the vehicle's occupants as being involved in that burglary - Love and Estell.

     After viewing the security video from the EZ-Mart, officers determined that the third occupant of the vehicle - Wright - was responsible for that robbery. 

An undetermined amount of money was recovered from Wright. The sledge hammer believed to have been used in both crimes was recovered at the EZ-Mart store. 

Love and Estell were arrested for burglary of a building and robbery, while Wright was arrested for robbery. All three suspects were booked into jail at the Bi-State Justice Center and are awaiting bond.