Allen Bridges, East Spencer Police
♦My name is Alan Bridges. I work for the Town of East Spencer as a public servant. This email concerns a recent article in the Post titled: “The Waffle House Takes a Bite Out of Crime”. The article the Post released is a complete failure of providing facts about what took place. I emailed them (Mr. Nathan Hardin) exactly what happened only two hours after it occurred. Please help so the facts are straight. I made 3 separate attempts to have the Post make corrections and they have not. I am disappointed in our local paper.
On 11/28/2013, at 1942 hours, I pulled into the Wilco-Hess Gas station located at 500 E. Innes St. I was approaching fuel pump #4 when I observed a thin build black male, later identified as, (Eric Donte Jones, D.O.B. 02/15/1982) wearing a black mask and a white hooded jacket and denim jeans. Mr. Jones looked directly at me and I made eye contact with him. The only part of his face that I could see was the top part of his cheek bones and his eyes.
Mr. Jones was walking away from a black convertible Mercedes and a white male, later identified as, (Richard McCombs, D.O.B. 02/06/1967), wearing a long light brown coat. I had my window down and Mr. McCombs told me that the male I just drove passed had a gun and tried to rob him. I turned my vehicle around in the parking lot of the gas station and observed Eric Jones running North on N. Shaver St. towards the EMS station. I notified Rowan Communications that an armed robbery just occurred and that the suspect was fleeing with a weapon. I followed the suspect as he ran around the front of the EMS station to the rear of the EMS station.
At the rear of the EMS station I observed Mr. Jones pulling aggressively on the rear entry/exit door at the kitchen area of the EMS station. I exited and drew my weapon on Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones turned towards me and I gave him commands to lie on the ground. I repeated those commands until he complied. I gave Rowan Communications my location and kept Mr. Jones covered until backup arrived. Rowan County Sheriff’s Deputies arrived and I kept Mr. Jones covered until Deputies Stoner, Cook, and Trexler secured Mr. Jones. I advised Communications that the victim, Mr. McCombs was awaiting a Salisbury PD officer in the PVA of the Wilco-Hess in a black Mercedes convertible with registration number plate SWP-5709.
Additional Salisbury PD, and Rowan County Deputies arrived on the scene and attempted to locate the weapon. I located the weapon about 10 feet from a wooden privacy fence that separates the gas station and the EMS station; additionally it was about 15 feet from N. Shaver St. The weapon appeared to be a C02 type pellet or BB pistol. I advised Salisbury PD the location of the weapon.
I located the black mask I had observed Mr. Jones wearing beside a gas BB-Q grill on the patio of the EMS station. I advised Salisbury PD the location of the mask.
Both the weapon and the mask were keep secured until Salisbury PD could photograph and collect those items.
Salisbury Police MPO Brown and Officer Lindow took the report and Mr. Jones was placed into the custody of Salisbury Police.
