Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Logo

Prosecutor: Suspect immediately wrecked car during hijacking | Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Archives
    • Buy Photos and Pages
    • Special Sections
    • Contact Us
    • Plus
    • Newsletters
    • Newspaper in Education
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Services

    • News
    • Local News
    • Photos
    • Crime
    • Databases
    • Education
    • Job Spotlight
    • Georgia
    • Business
    • Nation/World
    • Lottery
    • Sports
    • Alabama
    • Auburn
    • Braves
    • Columbus State University
    • Cottonmouths
    • Falcons
    • Hawks
    • High Schools
    • UGA
    • Blogs & Columns
    • War Eagle Extra
    • Bulldogs Blog
    • Valley Preps
    • Guerry Clegg
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • ToDo
    • Living
    • Dining
    • Celebrations
    • Outdoors
    • Faith
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Horoscopes
    • Blogs & Columns
    • War Eagle Extra
    • Bulldogs Blog
    • Guerry Clegg
    • Tim Chitwood
    • Richard Hyatt
    • Ledger Inquirer
    • Valley Preps
    • Chuck Williams
    • Dimon Kendrick-Holmes
    • Alva James-Johnson
    • Natalia Naman Temesgen
    • Chris Johnson
    • Opinion
    • Forum
    • Letters
    • Dusty Nix
    • Sound Off
  • Obituaries
  • Readers' Choice

  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad

  • About Us
  • Mobile & Apps

Crime

Prosecutor: Suspect immediately wrecked car during hijacking

BY TIM CHITWOOD - tchitwood@ledger-enquirer.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

April 07, 2015 06:10 PM

It was just after midnight June 28, 2012, when a woman parked her black Chevy Impala at a Pure service station on Fort Benning Road and went in to get a drink.

When she came out, a man pointing a gun forced her to the side of the building and took her cash and car keys before he and three others left in her car.

Her car showed up again at 8 p.m. that same day, this time at a car wash on Buena Vista Road, where a man and his girlfriend were having a chat. Driving separate cars, they went to a tax service on St. Mary’s Road to continue their conversation outside.

Then the black Impala pulled up, occupied by four men. A gunman got out, beat the boyfriend and took his car keys. One of the men then got in the boyfriend’s Ford Crown Victoria and tried to drive away.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Ledger-Enquirer

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

He didn’t make it: Misjudging a curb, he drove the car over an embankment and blew out the front tires. He got back into the Impala, and the four men drove off.

That’s the story Assistant District Attorney Wesley Lambertus told a jury Tuesday in the trial of Joshua Travone Dodson, 24, and Dearius Deante Ransom, 23, who face two counts each of armed robbery, hijacking a motor vehicle, using a firearm to commit a crime and obstructing police.

Dodson and Ransom were the only suspects the girlfriend could identify from the photo lineups police later showed her, the prosecutor said. She told officers she had seen them together before, and recognized their faces. Her beau could identify only Ransom, Lambertus said.

Having the suspects’ names, police tracked them down July 2, 2012, and caught them after a foot chase. Their running from officers led to their obstruction charge.

That’s the only charge they’re guilty of, defense attorneys said.

Tim Flournoy, who represents Dodson, told jurors the girlfriend’s identifying Dodson would be the only evidence against him: No fingerprints police found on the Impala or the Crown Vic matched him.

Though the woman said she recognized Dodson, she was not acquainted with him, Flournoy said: “She didn’t know my client.”

All Dodson did wrong was run when the police came for him, Flournoy said.

That’s all Ransom did, too, said his attorney Will Kirby. When eight to 10 police cars came roaring up, Ransom got scared and ran, Kirby said.

He said the woman robbed at the Pure station told police the gunman had shoulder-length dreadlocks. Ransom did not have that hairstyle, he said.

And just as Flournoy said of Dodson, police found no fingerprints matching Ransom’s, Kirby said.

The trial resumes today at 9 a.m. in the seventh-floor Government Center courtroom of Judge Art Smith III.

  Comments  

Videos

Columbus jury reaches verdict in fatal shooting involving half-brothers

Defendant takes the witness stand in his murder trial, recounts shooting his half-brother during an alleged gunfight

View More Video

Trending Stories

Columbus jury reaches verdict in birthday party shootout trial involving half-brothers

February 18, 2019 04:22 PM

After 11 years and $1.5 million, there is no hope for Water Witch at Naval Museum

February 17, 2019 03:23 PM

1 state champion. 2 third-place finishers. These Columbus area wrestlers made history.

February 18, 2019 08:00 PM

Letters to the Editor for Sunday, February 17, 2019

February 17, 2019 09:00 AM

Spotted Saturday at the Junior League of Columbus’ Character Breakfast

February 18, 2019 08:09 AM

Read Next

Columbus jury reaches verdict in birthday party shootout trial involving half-brothers
Video media Created with Sketch.

Latest News

Columbus jury reaches verdict in birthday party shootout trial involving half-brothers

By Tim Chitwood

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 18, 2019 04:22 PM

A jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of a Columbus man accused of killing his half-brother during what he said was a shootout at his birthday party.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Ledger-Enquirer

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE CRIME

Man, woman die in Auburn after shootout and apartment fire on  Stonegate Drive

Crime

Man, woman die in Auburn after shootout and apartment fire on Stonegate Drive

February 16, 2019 06:51 PM
Man dies of gunshot more than week after shooting on Parkchester Drive, coroner says

Local

Man dies of gunshot more than week after shooting on Parkchester Drive, coroner says

February 16, 2019 11:09 AM
City truck driver, 72, charged in fatal crash Jan. 31 on River Road, police say

Local

City truck driver, 72, charged in fatal crash Jan. 31 on River Road, police say

February 15, 2019 01:38 PM
Murder or self-defense? Columbus jury must decide answer in birthday party shootout trial

Crime

Murder or self-defense? Columbus jury must decide answer in birthday party shootout trial

February 14, 2019 06:14 PM
Math teacher at Randolph-Clay dies in two-vehicle crash on Po Biddy Road in Talbotton

Crime

Math teacher at Randolph-Clay dies in two-vehicle crash on Po Biddy Road in Talbotton

February 13, 2019 12:46 PM
‘They just don’t value life,’  homicide investigator says of deadly youth gun violence

Georgia

‘They just don’t value life,’ homicide investigator says of deadly youth gun violence

February 12, 2019 07:00 AM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
Advertising
  • Digital Solutions
  • Niche Solutions
  • Print Solutions
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story