Crime & Safety

Police: Twinkie Purchase Turns into Armed Robbery, 100 MPH Chase

A Loganville man who allegedly robbed a Covington dollar store told a cashier his wife had left him and he didn't care if he lived or died. The subsequent police chase ended at Stonecrest Mall in DeKalb County.

A man who went into a dollar store to buy a Twinkie told a clerk he was in a bad mood after his wife left him, and then reportedly pulled a gun to rob the store.

The suspect, Stephen Cheale Young, 41, of 3720 Sunny Hill Drive in Loganville, is accused of robbing the Fred’s Super Dollar store in Covington, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He reportedly fled the store and led a police chase that reached speeds of 100 mph before being arrested Sunday at Stonecrest Mall in DeKalb County.

The Newton Citizen reports that Young gave the Super Dollar clerk cash to pay for a Twinkie and when she opened the cash drawer to give him change, he allegedly drew a gun and demanded all the money in the register. Young reportedly told the clerk that “his wife had left him and he was in a bad mood and did not care if he lived or died.”

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Young then got into his van and drove away. An officer near the store spotted the suspect’s vehicle and attempted to pull him over, Capt. Ken Malcom with the Covington police said. The suspect refused to stop and continued to travel on I-20 westbound with police in pursuit.

“Once on I-20, the van reached speeds over 100 mph. The van weaved in and out of traffic, attempting to elude officers. The van drove down the emergency lane passing vehicles, causing debris to fly into traffic,” the Newton Citizen quotes from a police report.

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Young’s vehicle left I-20 at Turner Hill Road in Lithonia and he reportedly abandoned his vehicle near Stonecrest Mall, police said. His efforts to elude authorities ended in Kohl’s.

“He ran into Kohl’s, grabbed some clothes and attempted to change in a fitting room,” Malcom told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

A loss prevention officer who approached Young was reportedly hit in the face, but she held on to the suspect until other officers arrived.

Police found an empty black Airsoft pistol behind the bushes near Young’s vehicle and a Twinkie on the passenger side floor board of his van, says the Newton Citizen.

He was charged with armed robbery and fleeing and attempting to elude officers.


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