Woman screams, pulled from court in hearing on a series of Columbus business robberies
Victoria Thomas collapsed and started screaming Friday in Columbus Recorder’s Court as she faced multiple felony charges related to a series of local business robberies.
Deputies quickly pulled her from the courtroom, leaving codefendant Rashid Ricks to hear the rest of Detective Kelly Phillips’ testimony regarding eight armed robberies of neighborhood stores between Sept. 9 and Oct. 17.
Public defender Robin King, who represented Thomas, apologized for her client’s outburst, telling Judge Julius Hunter that Thomas has a history of mental illness for which she previously has been hospitalized.
Thomas is not charged in all of the robberies, and the judge and attorneys needed some time Friday to sort through the cases to determine which she was a suspect in.
Each incident involved two or three robbers with similar descriptions, usually two men wearing purple or blue latex gloves and clothed “head to toe” to cover their faces and any other distinguishing features, and using one of two vehicles investigators say they traced to Ricks, either a light-blue 1995 Honda Accord or a black 2004 Lincoln Town Car, Phillips said.
Here are the robberies, according to the detective’s testimony:
▪ Sept. 9 at the Mike’s Market Chevron at 5731 Veterans Parkway, where two men robbed the store at gunpoint and one fired his gun, the bullet hitting a clerk in the head. The clerk was treated and released from the hospital. One of the robbers had a March of Dimes bag with him. They were in a blue or silver Honda Accord.
▪ Sept. 22 at the BP station at 5900 Veterans Parkway, where two men robbed the store at gunpoint and one hit the woman working there in the back of the head with a gun. Again one of the robbers had the same March of Dimes bag seen in the first case.
▪ Sept. 25 at Veterans Grocery, 739 Veterans Parkway, where two men robbed the store owner at gunpoint, and again, one had a March of Dimes bag. In this case, the robbers parked the Honda Accord behind the William Spencer house next door and walked to the store.
▪ Sept. 27 at Nick Food Mart, 5018 Hamilton Road, where two men robbed the disabled clerk at gunpoint and shoved him to the floor before running around the corner to a Honda Accord parked on 51st Street.
▪ Oct. 2 at Veterans Grocery, 739 Veterans Parkway, where again they robbed the owner at gunpoint, and again parked behind the Spencer house next door, this time using a black Lincoln Town Car.
▪ Oct. 9 at Reese’s Marathon, 2047 Warm Springs Road, where one of the two gunmen fired at a pickup truck pulling into the parking lot as they fled.
▪ Oct. 16 at Hometown Grocery, 1159 27th St., where two men robbed the clerk at gunpoint and fled in a black Lincoln Town Car with a paper tag.
▪ Oct. 17 at the Floyd Food Mart, 1600 Floyd Road, where three robbers grabbed the clerk outside and dragged the worker in, robbing the store of cash and a Walther Arms handgun, and fleeing in a black Lincoln Town Car with a paper tag. The victim thought one of the robbers was a woman.
Police got a tip after publicizing video from the Sept. 27 robbery at Nick Food Mart, where a woman talking on her cellphone was recorded near the cash register before she left the store and walked to 51st Street, where the Accord was parked. Two men then got out of the car and went back to rob the business, Phillips said.
Detectives gave the tape to local media, asking the public’s help in identifying the woman, and a caller told them it was Thomas. Finding an address for her, police went there and saw outside a Honda Accord and Lincoln Town Car matching the vehicles seen at the robberies, Phillips said.
Ricks later told police he bought the Lincoln with cash in a private transaction on Sept. 30, the detective said.
On Wednesday, authorities arrested both Ricks and Thomas at Thomas’ home, where they found clothing matching what the robbers wore and four guns, including the Walther Arms pistol taken in the Floyd Food Mart robbery, Phillips said.
The detective did not cite Thomas’ address, but jail records show she was arrested at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at a 543 Third Ave. apartment.
Ricks, 31, was charged with seven counts each of armed robbery, of using a gun to commit a crime and of being a felon with a firearm, five counts of aggravated assault and one misdemeanor count of obstructing police, according to court records.
Thomas, 27, was charged with three counts of armed robbery and one count each of aggravated assault, using a gun to commit a crime and being a felon with a firearm, records show.
Hunter found probable cause to send the cases to Superior Court, ordering each suspect held without bond.
The investigation continues, Phillips said. As Friday’s hearing concluded, Ricks’ attorney Shevon Sutcliffe Thomas asked whether police had warrants for other suspects.
“I believe so, yes sir,” Phillips answered.
This story was originally published October 26, 2018 at 2:42 PM.