By ANDREA POTEET
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE — Local bar patrons helped police catch a man who allegedly held up Joe’s Party store, 1167 Maple, July 10.
Timothy Allen Tackett Jr., 19, allegedly walked into the store about 12:45 p.m. that day and told the cashier to give him money, indicating he had a gun in the waistband of his pants.
The cashier handed over more than $200 in cash and the man fled north on Twelfth on foot. Officers canvassed the area but Tackett was not immediately found.
Later, they walked into Oak Cafe, 1107 Oak, to ask employees and patrons there if anyone had seen the man. They were told he had been there the day before and an ambulance was called after he had complained of back pain.
They learned his name from the Fire Department records and a records check also turned up a photo, which they matched with surveillance footage from the store.
Less than an hour after the robbery, he was arrested in his father’s house in the 1400 block of Elm, Police Chief Daniel Grant said.
Grant said no gun was ever found on Tackett.
Tackett was arraigned Tuesday on charges of armed robbery. His bond was set at $1 million, 10 percent.