Local man tagged as Peggs burglar

By BOB GIBBINS

TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS May 09, 2008 12:40 pm

— A Mayes County man will face charges in Cherokee and other counties after his arrest earlier this week.
Undersheriff Jason Chennault said Robert Justice, 24, has been identified as the person responsible for a burglary of Welch’s Grocery in Peggs. Justice is accused of ramming the doors of the store with a vehicle and taking two empty cash drawers.
Justice is in the Mayes County Jail on charges anticipated ag-ainst him in that county. He is expected to be charged with second-degree burglary in Cherokee County.
Jerry Rush, owner of Welch’s Grocery, gave Deputy Brandon Vick a copy of a surveillance video. Vick contacted Sheriff’s Investigator Nate King, who responded for investigative purposes Monday night.
Chennault said investigators learned from witnesses that the suspect – who turned out to be Justice – was a customer at the store earlier in the day, and was wearing the same T-shirt he had on during the burglary. Rush obtained the suspect’s name from another man and located Justice’s address in Mayes County.
Chennault said Rush found the car used in the burglary and contacted Mayes County authorities. However, before deputies there could get to Justice, he left the residence and fled the area in the vehicle. He later crashed the vehicle and ran on foot into a nearby wooded area, armed with a handgun.
Chennault said Mayes County asked for help from Locust Grove police and the Cherokee and Delaware County Sheriff’s Offices. Authorities were unable to locate Justice May 6.
The cash drawers taken from Welch’s and items taken from a Locust Grove convenience store were found during a search for Justice near the residence from which he fled May 6.
Justice made two trips into the store the night of the burglary.
Chennault obtained a copy of a booking photo of Justice from Mayes County Jail. He then took photographs of the Justice vehicle and was leaving the impound yard when Locust Grove police told him Mayes County deputies had arrested the suspect at a residence in Chouteau.
Justice gave Chennault a statement about the Welch’s burglary, but denied involvement in any other Cherokee County burglaries. He said he told Mayes County deputies about other thefts he pulled off in that county.