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Armed robbery charges dismissed against Statesboro man
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    Charges were dropped against a man arrested in connection to a November, 2009 armed robbery, but Leon Mark Owens, 40, U.S. 80 West, says he wants his name cleared as well.
    Owens said being charged with the crime has caused problems with his employment and business and hopes having the charges dropped will help.    
    Papers filed with the Bulloch County Clerk of Courts March 3 read, in part: "... These charges are being dismissed in consideration of (Owen's) probation revocation as to .... (the armed robbery case) ... and his cooperation in the successful prosecution  of ( another man charged in the robbery.)
    Kadeem Rashod Parrish, 19, Continental Road, was also charged with armed robbery and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.
    After the robbery last November, Statesboro Police stopped a car that matched the description of the one that was seen leaving Pojo's on West Main just after it was robbed.
     When police stopped the car, they arrested Owens, Parrish and a juvenile female. All were charged in the robbery, and Owens was charged with driving with a suspended or revoked license as well.
    But Owens said he was not involved in  the robbery. He said the teenage girl called him to pick her up, crying because she fought with her father and boyfriend. He picked her up, dropped her off where she was to meet with her boyfriend (Parrish) and reconcile, then picked her up again when she called and said he never showed up.
    He was at PoJo's when she called, and she asked to go back to the store to use the bathroom, he said. He took her there, waited, and left when she got back into the car at the store, he said.
    When Owens stopped near Elm Street to let the teen out of the car, Parrish jumped into the back seat and pulled a knife, poking him in the neck with it and ordering him to drive, he said.
    Police scouring the area after the robbery was reported spotted Parrish getting into the gold Honda Owens was driving, and followed the car.
    "I saw them and said I hope it was the police," he told the Statesboro Herald Friday. "I didn't use my turn signal hoping they would pull us over."
    Officers switched on the blue lights and captured Parrish as he tried to flee, Owens said. But in spite of his protests that he was not involved in the robbery, they arrested him as well.
    Police reports said the Pojo's clerk could not identify Parrish due to his wearing a "Freddie Krueger" mask while robbing the store, but identified the teenage girl who police said "cased" the store for Parrish to rob.
    Owens denied any knowledge of the planned robbery.

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