An 18-year-old Little Rock man, implicated in a trio of video game store armed robberies, is on his way to prison for one of them.
Sentencing papers filed on Thursday show Ronald Edward Jones pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery, residential burglary and two counts of felony theft in exchange for the prison term imposed by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson. The prison term will keep Jones behind bars for 14 years.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, negotiated by deputy prosecutors Victoria Wadley and Cameron Coker with public defender Harrison Tome, two other residential burglary counts were dropped as were four aggravated robbery charges and a charge of theft by receiving.
Court filings show that police had implicated Jones in three residential burglaries: July 21, 2020, at 701 Vinson St.; Nov. 26, 2020, 205 Ellis Drive; and Nov. 27, 2020, 50 Warwick Drive.
Jones' name came up immediately in the Vinson Street burglary investigation in which two violins were stolen, among other things. One of the residents, Tyler Wolfe, 30, said he was suspicious of Jones and Jones' brother, whom he paid to cut his grass, because Wolfe's old phone had been taken in the break-in, and then used to send money through a cash app to Jones, court files show. The brothers reportedly lived at 605 Vinson St.
Detectives later found the violins at a pawn shop where they had been sold by Jones' brother, Rashawn Kellogg, 21. Kellogg denied involvement in the burglary, stating that Jones and another man had given him the instruments to sell. Kellogg was charged with felony theft by receiving and is currently awaiting trial.
In the Ellis Drive burglary, home owner David "Zack" Hicks, 35, reported that he had video of Jones knocking on his front door, then walking around to the back of his house, near where the burglary entered, court files show. Hicks said he recognized Jones because the younger man had done yard work for him.
David Sewell, the owner of the Warwick Drive residence, told investigators he had had two young men doing yard work for him around the time he was burglarized. Police found Sewell's stolen TV at a pawn shop where it had been sold by Jones the day after the break-in.
Police got an arrest warrant for Jones but he was not taken into custody until July. He spent about two weeks in jail before posting $30,000 bond.
Three months later, two Little Rock Game X Change stores were robbed by two gloved men in dark clothing, with one of the stores being held-up twice. The thieves, one of whom was armed, struck at the store at 301 S. Bowman Road on Oct. 4, robbing workers James Barnett, 27, and Robert Dixon, 33, of money from the cash register and electronic goods. The robbers wore hoodies they used to cover their faces.
Five days later, on Oct. 9, the store at 3412 S. University Ave. was robbed by two men in dark clothing, one of whom had a handgun, described by store clerk John Allen, 42, to be equipped with a green laser.
Three days after that, the Bowman Road location was held-up again by two robbers. Store clerk Adrian Vanlandingham, 28, said the robbers made him empty the safe and then stole items off store shelves before leaving.
Store workers were able to call 911 faster because they had adopted a safety practice of having one worker in the back of the store. That worker was Dixon, a victim of the first holdup, and although he did not see the robbers on that second encounter, he told detectives their voices sounded similar to the earlier robbers.
Police arrived in time to chase down two men dressed in dark clothes running from the store, arresting Jones and 20-year-old Bishop Johnson of Little Rock.
Johnson was carrying a black bag and told police he was on his way home from work and that the money in the bag was his wages, court files show. Johnson declined to answer questions but Jones told police that he and Johnson were friends and that the robberies had all been Johnson's idea.
Jones was found to be carrying a bag containing a stolen gun, $1,327 and items from the Games X Change, while Johnson's bag had $135 in loose bills and rolled coins. Johnson is in the Pulaski County jail awaiting trial.
A week after the men's arrest, on Oct. 16, the Bowman Road store was robbed by a masked gunman dressed in white, who told clerks he wanted the money to bail out his cousin who had been arrested for robbing the store earlier, according to police reports. No arrests have been made.