A Valley, Ala., man was arrested Friday after he allegedly robbed two gas stations and led law enforcement officers on a car chase.
Matthew Misquistian Patton, 24, is charged with two counts of robbery in the third degree and two counts of theft of property in the first degree. More charges are pending.
Around 3:10 p.m., Valley Police received a call from the cashier of the Citgo gas station at Fob James Drive and the Fairfax Bypass to inform them the business had just been robbed.
Three minutes later, another call came in about a robbery at Valley One Stop, located about two miles away from the first gas station at 20th Avenue and 55th Street. That clerk said the man had fled north on 20th Avenue in a dark SUV.
An agent with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation heard the calls and decided to wait at the intersection of 20th Avenue and Interstate 85 to see if the vehicle would show up. Around 3:20 p.m., the agent spotted the described SUV, which Patton was driving, at a traffic light.
The ABI officer ordered Patton out of the vehicle at gunpoint. Instead, he ran the stop light, hitting two cars in the process, police said. Patton was pursued into nearby Lanett by the ABI agent and units of the Lanett Police Department.
The chase ended after Patton tried to make a left turn into a parking lot on North Gilmer Avenue. He lost control of the SUV, which bounced off a telephone pole and began to roll. Patton attempted to flee again after crawling through the driver’s window, but officers were able to catch him.
Patton is being held in the Chambers County Detention Facility, where he is awaiting a bond hearing.
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