A 27-year-old man is facing charges after police say he tried to throw a gun away at a 7-Eleven while being questioned about allegedly leaving a restaurant without paying.
Jamel Lamar Jackson, of Hampton, was arrested at a 7-Eleven convenience store in the 2200 block of Richmond Road just after midnight Tuesday, Williamsburg Police spokesman Maj. Greg Riley said.
Police believe Jackson, 22-year-old Destiny Alexus Jones, 21-year-old Isiah Wilson and an unidentified female left a restaurant in the 1600 block of Richmond Road without paying Monday night.
Jones and Wilson are from Chesapeake, and Jackson is from Hampton, police said.
Just before police received a call about the suspected larceny, two officers pulled over a white Chrysler 300 for a traffic violation around 11:10 p.m. near the intersection of Longhill and Richmond roads. Jones was driving, wearing a light pink or peach-colored dress, and Jackson was a passenger, wearing a dark-colored suit, Riley said.
Jones was released from the traffic stop with a warning.
After the traffic stop, the restaurant’s manager told responding officers that four people had left without paying. The manager described the suspects’ vehicles as a pearl-colored Dodge Charger or Chevrolet Impala, and a dark blue Honda or Toyota Camry, Riley said.
Given the description of the vehicle, officers believed Jones, the driver of the white Chrysler, may have been involved.
Police were able to locate the car, driven by Jones, around 12:50 a.m., Riley said. The car pulled into a 7-Eleven in the 220 block of Richmond Road.
The officer approached the vehicle and made “consensual contact” with Jones and Jackson. They admitted they had been at the restaurant and had not paid, and also identified the two other people who left without paying, Riley said.
The identity of the other man, Wilson, has been confirmed by police, but the identity of the other woman has not been confirmed Wednesday morning, Riley said.
While an officer was speaking with the couple, a 7-Eleven clerk got the attention of a second officer at the scene.
She told the officer Jackson had been in possession of a weapon and tried to hide it in the store, police said.
Riley said a weapon was recovered from a trash can during a police search of the area.
Jackson was arrested at the scene and charged with defrauding a restaurant and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Warrants for defrauding a restaurant were obtained by police for Wilson and Jones as well, and were served when the two turned themselves in at the Williamsburg Police Department Tuesday afternoon.
A warrant for the fourth person involved in the incident will be served once police positively identify the woman, Riley said.
Jackson is scheduled to appear in the Williamsburg-James City County General District Court April 13 at 9:30 a.m.
Online court records did not show any scheduled court dates for Wilson and Jones at noon Wednesday.
