AMERICUS — After a month-long search, authorities have arrested a suspect in several robberies of local businesses.
According to Sumter County Sheriff Pete Smith, Ricky Lee Ford was arrested Tuesday morning in Forest Park, Ga., and he had sent two deputies to pick him up.
In mid-October, the Americus Police Department issued warrants Ford, 35, in connection with an investigation into the robberies of Family Dollar, 1202 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; Dollar General, 805 Adderton St.; and Chevron Food Mart, 1301 E. Lamar St., all in Americus. All three robberies occurred over the weekend of Oct. 10-11.
Ford was wanted on one count of armed robbery, two counts of robbery by sudden snatching, three counts of aggravated assault and one count of motor vehicle theft. He was being sought by law enforcement agencies throughout South Georgia.
In the Dollar General and Chevron Food Mart incidents, the suspect snatched cash from customers before fleeing, according to authorities. In the Family Dollar incident, the suspect wielded a gun and demanded money. That weapon has been recovered, according to police.
The vehicle that Ford is accused of stealing Oct. 2 in Americus was recovered in Albany, police said.
Police recovered the gun used in the Oct. 8 armed robbery of Flash Foods, 1533 S. Lee St., Americus. At 3:28 a.m., an armed man entered the store with a gun and demanded money. The suspect took an undetermined amount of cash from the register and left the store on foot, heading north. Police also recovered some of the stolen cash in that case.