Sheriff investigators say a crime victim’s Instagram account helped them break an armed robbery case wide open.
Channel 2 Action News talked to the clerk at the Dollar General store on Friday night off camera. She was too scared to talk on TV after being held at gun point, threatened, robbed, and kidnapped.
“He produced the gun and told her he was going to kill her both of these clerks were terrified,” said Douglas County Police Lt. James Harrell.
Harrell says one of the robbery suspects threatened the two clerks with a gun at the store.
Police say Rodriguez Walker came in the store first. He made the clerks so uncomfortable they called police, but by the time a deputy arrived investigators say Walker's partner, Adam Gober, was in the store and telling the clerk what to say at gunpoint. That exchange was also caught on camera.
"That Gober was her boyfriend and everything was OK; that he would kill her and kill the deputy," said Harrell.
Detectives say the two men robbed the store and kidnapped one of the clerks. Detectives think she was kidnapped in case the deputy who responded initially was keeping an eye on the store.
“As a kidnap victim in case the deputy showed up he was still in the area right there," said Harrell.
The men let her go at a nearby Burger King. Detectives say within hours Rodriguez Walker posted a picture on Instagram.
“Obviously, Rodriguez Walker is wearing the same shirt with a large amount of U.S. currency in photo," Harrell said.
By coincidence, detectives say the victim was following Walker on the social networking site. She didn't know him, but called police immediately after spotting the picture. They tracked the men through social media. Longtime customer Gwendolyn Bridges is stunned at how crooks are showcasing their crimes online.
"I think it's a very sad example of how ignorant you can be," said Bridges.
Both men were charged with armed robbery and kidnapping. Police say Gober had just been released from prison on a reduced murder charge when he committed the store robbery.
