Charlottesville Police arrested a man Saturday who allegedly robbed a family at gunpoint as they were eating lunch together in their car that afternoon.
Police said Charlottesville resident Brian Donnell Jackson, 18, was charged with robbery, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, aggravated assault for pointing a weapon at an officer and burglary.
At about 12:15 p.m. a man and a woman and their two children were in a parked car at the 100 block of Carlton Road, when "they heard a gunshot," Charlottesville Police Sgt. Gary Pleasants said.
"They looked up and there were two black males [wearing ski masks] standing above them, pointing guns at them and demanding money," Pleasants said. "The man gave his wallet and the woman gave her purse and the suspects ran away."
In the next few minutes, officers spotted someone fitting the description of one of the suspects near the intersection of Avon Street and Garret Street, he said.
"He was running from officers and he had a gun in his hand," he added.
The suspect was confronted by officers, who pointed their weapons at him. The suspect fired at least two shots that missed the officers and then started running again, Pleasants said.
"Within a few seconds, the suspect was confronted by another officer who pointed his weapon at him and told him to drop his gun, at which point [the suspect] complied," he said.
After dropping the gun, the suspect tried to run away on foot, but was tackled and handcuffed by an officer, he added.
Upon searching the suspect, police said they discovered credit cards in his pocket that were allegedly stolen from the burglary of a house on Myrtle Street, the same street on which the suspect lives.
The burglary on Myrtle Street occurred some time between 9 p.m. Friday and 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Guns and credit cards were stolen from the house, Pleasants said.
An officer was taking a report about the burglary when he responded to the call about the robbery of the family.
University Police are planning to look into whether the suspect is connected to the armed robbery of a student that occurred outside Courtenay dormitory last Sunday, University Police Chief Michael Sheffield said.
"I think if you look at the things that are happening it's very disturbing. We've been very fortunate so far that we haven't had some of the incidents that the city and the county have had," Sheffield said.
Over the last three weeks, there have been three armed robberies at a local 7-11, video store and Arby's restaurant. A man was shot in the back during the robbery at Arby's.
Jackson is in custody awaiting a bond hearing at Charlottesville District Court this morning.
The other suspect in Saturday's robbery was described by the victims as about 5 feet 10 inches tall and about 175 pounds.
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