"Good police work" led to the arrest of two armed robbery suspects after a convenience store robbery early Wednesday. The suspects were also charged in another convenience store armed robbery that occurred Sunday.
Statesboro Public Safety Director Wendell Turner and Bulloch County Sheriff Lynn Anderson agreed Wednesday that teamwork by their agencies helped nab the suspects minutes after they held a clerk at gunpoint around 12:45 a.m. at the Gate station on South Main Street.
The clerks and witnesses told officers "two masked black males came into the store, brandished handguns and demanded the money from the cash registers," Turner said. The suspects took an undisclosed amount of currency from the business and fled the scene on foot.
After the clerk reported the robbery and Statesboro police responded, officers spotted a car matching the description of one used in similar armed robberies outside the city limits, Turner said.
"Officers were already familiar with a description of suspects and a vehicle that committed previous armed robberies in the county after they received a (lookout alert) from the Bulloch County Sheriff's Department," he said. "A short time later Officers Thomas McKeithen, Jake Saxon and Elizabeth Johnson observed two black males in a vehicle matching the previous description pull into the Clyde's Mart located at Highway 301 North and Veterans Memorial Parkway. The officers stopped the vehicle and the two subjects were detained."
Detective Sgt. James Winskey responded to the location where the suspects had been detained, and after further investigation, recovered evidence associated with Gate station armed robbery, Turner said.
The suspects, Jackie Raykenya Scott, 34, and Tyler Samuel Turner, 28, both of Sylvania, were each charged with armed robbery, possession of firearm during the commission of a crime, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and false imprisonment. Both Scott and Turner are currently being held in the Bulloch County Jail without bond.
Both suspects were also charged Wednesday by Bulloch County sheriff's investigators after evidence linked them to Sunday's armed robbery of the Fast Stop on U.S. Highway 80 East near the Grove Lakes subdivision. In that case, both Turner and Scott were charged with armed robbery, using a mask to conceal identity during a crime, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Bulloch County sheriff's Investigator Jared Akins said investigations continue regarding another armed robbery last week at a store on U.S. Highway 301 North and Old River Road. While Scott and Turner have not yet been charged in that case, investigators are looking into whether they were involved in that incident as well as other cases, he said.
Anyone with information concerning this crime or others is asked to contact the Statesboro Police Department at (912) 764-9911. Detective Sgt. James Winskey is leading the armed robbery investigation.

Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.