Four Columbia teens arrested after early morning robbery at a gas station

COLUMBIA — Four Columbia teenagers were arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery early this morning in connection with an armed robbery at a Columbia gas station.

Johnathan Heyboer, 18, David Plautz, 19, Johnathan Paulus, 18, and Jerome Ukatish, 17, were arrested after a robbery at the Express Lane 66 Gas Station, 501 E. Nifong Blvd., according to a Columbia Police Department news release.

At around 2 a.m., the suspects entered the station and demanded money from the clerk, leaving with an undisclosed amount of cash, the release said.

An officer was dispatched to the scene while the robbery was in progress and noted the licence plate of the suspects’ car, the release said. Officers located it later in the Cherry Hill subdivision and apprehended three of the suspects.

The fourth, Heyboer, was arrested in the Nifong and Providence area with information gathered from the other three suspects. The case is still under investigation.