HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Huntsville police arrested three men and recovered two firearms after an armed robbery at a Pulaski Pike service station, using camera footage, license plate readers and a drone to track the getaway vehicle, the Huntsville Police Department said.
Officers responded around 6:30 p.m. Friday, November 6, to the service station in the 6000 block of Pulaski Pike. Police said armed suspects threatened an employee and fled in a vehicle.
Cameras, plate readers and a drone
Officers first used security camera footage from the station to develop a lead on the suspect vehicle. Personnel with the North Alabama Multi-Agency Crime Center, known as NAMACC, then searched the department’s license plate reader system. They identified the same vehicle traveling away from the scene near Winchester Road and Pulaski Pike.
A second hit moments later showed the vehicle crossing near Sparkman Drive and Pulaski Pike. More camera footage narrowed its location to the 2200 block of Sparkman Drive, and the department’s Drone First Responder Program found it in a nearby parking lot.
Felony traffic stop
NAMACC personnel passed the information to responding officers. Police said the officers waited until the vehicle left the busy commercial area, then coordinated a felony traffic stop in the 2500 block of Sparkman Drive. The department said that approach helped reduce risks to nearby motorists and bystanders.
Five people were inside the vehicle. Officers recovered two firearms that police identified as having been used in the robbery.
Charges
After further investigation, police charged three people with first-degree robbery:
- 18-year-old Kaleb Landon Morgan
- 21-year-old Ryeheem Antonio Jamile Seals
- 19-year-old Kornnelyus Daytrell McCauley
All three were booked into the Madison County Jail. The source did not say what happened to the other two people in the vehicle.
Charges are accusations, and the three men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.