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Carjacking at Greenville Chevron

BY BRUCE BRANUM
The Greenville Standard

On Aug. 8, just before 3:30 a.m., a family of three was travelling on I-65 and stopped at the Greenville Chevron on Fort Dale Road. A father and son entered the store while the mother remained in the front passenger seat of their vehicle. According to Greenville Police Chief Justin Lovorrn, a suspect approached the victim’s car and got in the driver’s seat. He began to drive off with the mother in the passenger seat. He then pushed her out of the passenger side door as he was exiting the parking lot and drove off towards the interstate. The mother received injuries from her fall which required her to be transported to L. V. Stabler Memorial Hospital in Greenville. She was treated and released after a few hours. The suspect fled south on the interstate. Greenville Police Department (GPD) investigators were called to the scene and quickly determined the suspect had broken down on the interstate prior to the carjacking and had been dropped off at the Chevron a short time earlier. Investigators were also able to use GPS technology and locate the victim’s stolen vehicle. GPD investigators notified the Satsuma Police Department (SPD) the stolen vehicle was in their jurisdiction at a gas station. The SPD arrived at the location and observed the suspect and the stolen vehicle. The suspect then fled from police in the stolen vehicle down Alabama Highway 43 and into Creola. The suspect then
struck two other vehicles while fleeing from the police and wrecked. SPD officers then took the suspect into custody. The victim’s vehicle was totaled in this accident. There were injuries to another driver in the accident but they were not life threatening. GPD officers located the
original vehicle belonging to the suspect which had broken down on the interstate a few miles outside of the city limits. They impounded this vehicle and found that it had been reported stolen from Mobile. The suspect now has charges in three different jurisdictions including Greenville, Satsuma, and Mobile. GPD investigators responded to Satsuma and conducted an interview with the suspect in which he confessed to the charges after he was confronted with the evidence that investigators had against him. The suspect has been identified as Robert Lee Dawson, a 30 year old black male from Montgomery. He was charged with Theft of Property 1st and Assault 2nd by GPD. Additional charges are pending in Satsuma and Mobile as well. Lovorrn stated, “I would like to commend the quick response of our patrol officers and our investigators in this matter. Thanks to the excellent investigative work done in this case, this suspects crime spree was brought to an end before he could cause any serious physical harm to an innocent civilian. “I would like to thank Satsuma Police Department for their assistance in this case and the ultimate apprehension of this dangerous individual. We are very fortunate that the victim in Greenville was not seriously injured nor the innocent civilians he collided with in Creola. “We would like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to lock your vehicle anytime you exit it even if someone remains in the vehicle, you should always lock the doors. You never know when someone is looking for what they feel is an easy opportunity.”

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