Three Charged with Armed Robbery in Front of Moultrie MS

Police officers can't always be everywhere, but sometimes one is in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.

Three men are in jail Tuesday accused of robbing two men at gunpoint in front of Moultrie Middle School on Coleman Boulevard, and a Mount Pleasant police officer watched it unfold in front of him, Live5News reports.

Randi Parks, 25, Darren Belt, 26, and Ricky Hayes, 31, are all charged with two counts of armed robbery. Hayes also faces a single charge of common law robbery, according to Al Cannon Detention Center records.

The alleged robbery took place shortly after midnight Tuesday. The officer, on night patrol saw three men approach two other men on the sidewalk on Coleman Boulevard, and then saw one of the victims raise his hands in the air. When the officer approached the group Parks, Belt and Hayes allegedly fled on foot after taking one of the victims' wallets and both of their cell phones.

Several more Mount Pleasant Police Department units responded to the scene and began searching for the suspects. They caught up with Hayes first near the Mount Pleasant Water Works Station near Hamp Fludd and King streets. They found Parks a short time later allegedly hiding under a construction truck at the back of the Water Works Station with the victim's wallet. Police said Parks told them Belt was the third man involved and was driving a green Jeep. Officers spotted a green Jeep speeding away from the area and confiscated a backpack that contained some mail addressed to the other victim in the Jeep with Belt.

Belt and Hayes were granted $200,000 bonds and Parks received a $300,000 bond. He was already on probation for a second degree burglary charge.