Police pursuit leads to arrest of armed robber

Kilgore police corralled a career felon this weekend after an attempted armed robbery that led to a vehicle pursuit and foot chase.

At approximately 11:15 p.m. Sunday patrolman Daniel Morgan, a four-year veteran reserve officer with only eight months of fulltime duty under his belt, attempted to stop a vehicle that failed to signal a turn. The driver, identified as Tommie Lemar Stokes III, 30, of Tyler, attempted to run down Morgan, then fled from the scene in a Jeep-like vehicle.

The vehicle eventually came to a stop after striking a curb as Stokes ran into a wooded area. The officer was then able to locate and arrest Stokes.

At the same time as the arrest, Kilgore Police Department was notified of an armed robbery that had occurred moments before at the E-Z Mart convenience store at 600 Houston St.

The description of the robber matched Stokes, who was soon identified by several witnesses as the person who committed the robbery.

The E-Z Mart clerk reported a man entered the store brandishing a firearm then threatened a customer with the gun and instructed the clerk to open the cash register. The register would not open and the robber fled. The loaded 9mm handgun was later recovered by police, with the use of the department's K-9 unit, in the wooded area where Stokes was apprehended.

Stokes was booked into

Stokes was booked into city jail and charged with aggravated robbery, evading arrest with a vehicle, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

He was arraigned by Glenn Phillips, city judge, and a bond of $200,000 was set for the four charges.

Aggravated robbery is a first degree felony, with a bond of $100,000; aggravated assault with a weapon is a second degree felony, carry carrying a bond of $50,000; evading arrest with a vehicle and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon are both second degree felonies, with $25,000 bonds set for each of those charges.

Stokes served five months in Smith County Jail on a robbery charge in 2003, but records gathered by KPD go as far back as 1997 with charges including possession of marijuana, evading detention and evading arrest.

At press time Stokes remained detained at the Kilgore jail.

Police would not say where the arrest was made but indicated the attempted stop was in the vicinity of Harris and Commerce streets.