COLUMBIA — A Jefferson City man was charged Thursday with two counts of robbery relating to incidents in May at the Best Value Inn and Paris Road Car Wash.
Columbia Police arrested Tarran Antonio Wilson, 28, Wednesday afternoon after a warrant for his arrest was issued Monday. As of 4:15 p.m.Thursday, Wilson was being held at Boone County Jail on $200,000 bond.
Wilson is charged on suspicion of first-degree robbery in relation to a May 4 incident at Paris Road Car Wash at 1722 Paris Road. According to a probable cause statement filed in the 13th Circuit Court, Wilson approached a woman who was cleaning her car, pointed a large silver handgun at her and demanded property. Wilson took the woman's purse and left on foot, according to the statement.
An additional charge of second-degree robbery stems from an incident in the early morning of May 22, in which Wilson took $179 from the Best Value Inn at 1718 N. Providence Road, according to a probable cause statement. After entering the business wearing a mask, Wilson punched the night clerk and ordered her to “give me the drawer,” according to the statement. He then left on foot. A hotel security video captured a short clip of Wilson outside the hotel, but it does not show the encounter with the clerk, according to the statement.
On May 5, a construction worker found a purse in a construction site dumpster near Third and Garth avenues containing identification information and a phone number for the woman who was robbed at the car wash. The construction company returned the purse to the woman, who then took it to the Columbia Police Department, according to the statement.
On July 5, Latrisha Owens, Wilson’s ex-wife, told police that Wilson had told her about both robberies and had given the wallet to Owens’ 13-year-old daughter. Owens gave the wallet to police as evidence, and it was later identified by the woman from the car wash as the wallet that was stolen from her, according to the statement.
Owens also told police that Wilson possessed a large silver handgun, according to the statement.
A preliminary hearing for Wilson is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. August 10 in 13th Circuit Court.