Atmore teen one of 3 charged with robbery attempt, burglary
News Staff Report
Escambia County, Fla. authorities have apparently filed juvenile petitions against an Atmore teen and two of his acquaintances, charging them in connection with the attempted armed robbery of a Walnut Hill gas station and the burglary of a Molino residence on successive days in December.
Sheriff’s reports show that 17-year-old Tallin Trayton Bishop of a Switch Road address in Atmore (Switch Road connects Poarch Road and Aplin Road), along with Samuel Max Adams, 18, of Flomaton, and Ricky Lee Cooper Jr., whose city of residence was not provided, were each taken into custody after investigations into the separate incidents.
The first occurred around 11:30 a.m. on December 7, when a male who had a firearm entered the Marathon gas station on North Fla. Hwy. 97, threw a plastic bag onto the counter and ordered the clerk to empty the store’s cash into the bag.
A Marathon employee reportedly “threatened to shoot” the intruder, who ran from the store. According to reports, the employee later identified Bishop as the would-be robber.
The next day, December 8, three males — later identified as Adams, Bishop and Cooper – entered a Molino residence, with a firearm, through the front door. According to reports, when the homeowner confronted the three, they fled.
ECSO detectives learned on December 10 that Bishop and Cooper had been arrested by Atmore police in connection with a string of burglaries here. During the course of that investigation, Adams reportedly told APD investigators that Bishop “confided in him that he had committed the (Marathon) robbery.”
Inside the vehicle Bishop was driving, a white Chevy Tahoe belonging to his aunt, ECSO investigators found a piece of clothing that a store clerk identified as having been worn in the robbery attempt.
Bishop and Adams are reportedly charged with one count each of felony burglary as the investigation continues, although neither they nor Cooper show up on the Escambia County Jail’s online inmate log.
According to sheriff’s reports, Bishop was arrested December 17 and at last report was being held without bond. Also at last report, Adams was arrested December 20 and was granted a $10,000 bond. Formal charges against Cooper were not announced, nor was a bond amount. Mug shots of the suspects were unavailable by Tuesday’s press deadline.