LINDEN &8212; The Linden Police Department arrested Tarrance R. Smith, 16, for robbery in the first degree and charged him as an adult Monday.

Sergeant Scott McClure arrested Smith after conducting several interviews regarding an armed robbery that occurred March 24. Police Chief Jeff Laduron said the suspect was charged as an adult as a message meant to deter others from such malicious actions.

On March 24 the department received a report of two females being robbed at gunpoint on Martin Luther King Drive. The victims, Rebecca Wallace, 22, and a 17-year-old juvenile, reported they had been robbed after offering a ride to three males.

Laduron said he thought the two girls knew at least one of the males they offered a ride from one side of Martin Luther King Drive to the other, which explains why the group was offered the ride in the first place. He said from what the witnesses, the girls and the two males not charged, said the other two males with Smith were not aware that the robbery had taken place.

McClure said after the initial report an investigation was started into the robbery. He said he had the names of three people that could have been involved in the incident, who he interviewed during the following week. He said during his interview with Smith about the situation the suspect admitted to the accusations and was arrested at 9:20 a.m. Monday.

If Smith is convicted as an adult of a class A felony he faces a maximum sentence of 99 years imprisonment according to the Alabama Criminal Code.

Though the minimum sentence for a class A felony according to code is 10 years if convicted, Smith will face a minimum sentence of 20 years if he is found guilty due to the stiffer sentence required for class A felonies involving a firearm or deadly weapon.