Eaton found guilty in Outback case
Published 12:00 am Sunday, May 26, 2002
A Marengo County jury found Anthony Eaton guilty Tuesday for the December 2000 robbery of the Outback Motel off Jefferson Road in Demopolis.
The sentence is under advisement.
Eaton, and another suspect Gary Williams, were accussed of robbing the motel on December 1, 2000.
According to a case synopsis from authorities, officers were dispatched to the motel between 6 and 6:30 p.m.
The motel clerk Norma Taylor reported that she had been robbed by two masked males who also had used pepper spray on her.
The clerk said a female came into the motel office just before the robbery and asked to rent a room under the name Keisha Smith. The female said she was going to the car to get some money and when she walked out the two robbers came into the office.
They robbed the motel of a cash box containing $375 and check books, the synopsis revealed. The suspects then left the scene.
Taylor remember seeing a large brown or gold car in the area prior to the robbery. She also had seen the young female before. Law enforcement officials showed the clerk several yearbooks from Demopolis High School and other photos.
Taylor contacted law enforcement on January 6, 2001, saying she had seen the female suspect working at Food World. The clerk indentified a suspect that was later placed under Youthful Offender status.
The female suspect was brought in by police for an interview and she confessed that she was involved in the robbery and said Williams was one of the suspects.
Williams was located by law enforcement but would not reveal any information about the case.
On January 8, 2001, Williams’ sister-in-law was brought to police on an unrelated case and gave a statement that the three suspects came to her house after the robbery with the cash box in ther possession.
The cash box and a partially burned check book from the motel were recovered from the sister-in-law’s house
Police conducted another interview with the female suspect in the robbery and she confessed that Eaton was her boyfriend and was the third person involved.
Williams and the female suspect were arrested for robbery I, and warrants were issued for Eaton.
Williams’ case is still pending.