Robber Sentenced to 15 Years, Getaway Driver Sentenced to 4 Years Following Series of Robberies in 2022
NORFOLK, Va. – Two men have been sentenced in Norfolk Circuit Court for a 2022 series of robberies targeting a convenience store clerk and several bank patrons. On Friday, the 24-year-old getaway driver Daniel Tre Carter was sentenced to four years in prison, and, on Oct. 27, the 27-year-old robber Alonzo Matin Wilson III was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
On March 2, 2022, Mr. Wilson attempted to rob the clerk at a Dollar General on Chesapeake Boulevard. Mr. Carter drove Mr. Wilson to the store in a red Ford Fusion that he owned. Mr. Wilson entered the store, picked up a bag of candy, and handed $5 to the clerk so that the clerk would open the cash drawer. When the clerk did, Mr. Wilson walked behind the register and told the clerk to keep the drawer open. Flustered, the clerk put the $5 into the drawer and shut it. Mr. Wilson attempted to re-open the drawer and fled the store after failing to do so. The clerk provided a description of Mr. Wilson — with whom the clerk was not acquainted and whose name the clerk did not know — to Norfolk Police investigators and told them that Mr. Wilson had a gun. Video surveillance footage from the Dollar General showed Mr. Wilson to be armed with a gun on his hip, holding a phone with a blue and white case, and getting into Mr. Carter’s car to leave.
That same afternoon, Mr. Carter drove Mr. Wilson to a Navy Federal Credit Union branch, where Mr. Wilson robbed a patron after the patron withdrew money from the bank’s ATM. Mr. Wilson approached the victim as the victim left the credit union and demanded his cash and wallet. The victim and Mr. Wilson tussled over the wallet near the entrance of a business next to the credit union, that business owner called 911 and assisted the victim inside to safety, and Mr. Wilson fled. Footage from the credit union showed Mr. Carter’s car circling the parking lot during this incident and showed Mr. Wilson, with identical clothing from the Dollar General incident, fleeing in that car.
Less than a couple of hours after the Navy Federal incident, Mr. Carter drove Mr. Wilson to a Chartway Federal Credit Union, where Mr. Wilson robbed a patron shortly after she used the bank’s drive-thru ATM. The victim told Norfolk Police investigators that she had withdrawn $500 from the ATM and pulled into a parking space to put her cash and bank card away. As she was doing that, Mr. Wilson approached her vehicle and reached through her window — still rolled down from having used the ATM — and tussled with her over the cash she was holding. Mr. Wilson successfully robbed her of about $140 and left noticeable bruising and scratches on her hands. Footage from the credit union showed him fleeing in Mr. Carter’s car.
The following day, on March 3, 2022, Mr. Carter drove Mr. Wilson to a Truist bank, where Mr. Wilson robbed one of the patrons. The victim told investigators that he had just withdrawn $400 from the counter and was exiting the bank when Mr. Wilson, who had been seated in the waiting area, held the door open for him. While in the vestibule between the two sets of entrance doors, Mr. Wilson attempted to reach into the victim’s pockets and steal his cash. The victim and Mr. Wilson fought to the ground over the cash, leaving the victim with minor injuries. Some of the cash was strewn from the victim’s pocket during the fight, and Mr. Wilson grabbed some of the cash and fled with Mr. Carter in Mr. Carter’s car. Footage from the bank showed Mr. Wilson wearing the same jacket and shoes and using the same phone from the previous day.
During their investigation, Norfolk Police identified Mr. Carter as the owner of the red Ford Fusion. When the police questioned Mr. Carter, he confessed to being the driver during each of the robberies and to helping the robber, known to him “Jeff.” Mr. Carter showed investigators an Instagram account belonging to “Jeff” and told them that “Jeff” mentioned an incident that he had been in several days after the robberies that elicited a Norfolk Police response. When investigators searched Norfolk Police records regarding that incident, they identified the suspect for that incident as Mr. Wilson. When investigators showed Mr. Carter a photo of Mr. Wilson, Mr. Carter identified Mr. Wilson as “Jeff.”
On April 17, 2022, the Norfolk Emergency Operations Center received a call from a local bail bondsman requesting assistance in apprehending Mr. Wilson, who was seen entering an apartment on Lead Street. When officers and investigators arrived at the apartment, Mr. Wilson was taken into custody and evidence was gathered from the apartment, including the phone with the blue and white case and a gun identical to the one seen on surveillance footage from the robberies. The Instagram profile belonging to “Jeff” also included photos of Mr. Wilson wearing identical clothing and holding an identical gun to the ones seen on the footage.
Mr. Wilson pleaded guilty on July 7, 2023, to two counts of robbery by force and to one count each of attempted armed robbery, attempted robbery by threat, and the use of a firearm in the commission of robbery, and Judge Robert B. Rigney accepted his plea with no agreement to Mr. Wilson’s sentence.
On Oct. 27, Judge Rigney sentenced Mr. Wilson to 18 years in prison, with three years suspended on the conditions that Mr. Wilson complete three years of uniform good behavior and one year of supervised probation upon his release, have no contact with the victims, and pay restitution.
Mr. Carter pleaded guilty on July 24 to two counts of conspiring to commit robbery by force and to one count each of conspiring to commit armed robbery and conspiring to commit robbery by threat, and Judge Everett A. Martin Jr. accepted his plea with no agreement to Mr. Carter’s sentence.
On Friday, Judge Martin sentenced Mr. Carter to eight years in prison, with four years suspended on the conditions that Mr. Carter complete 15 years of uniform good behavior and an indeterminate period of supervised probation.
“Mr. Wilson’s series of crimes traumatized multiple victims and created a serious risk of violence,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Wilson’s sentence reflects the gravity of his crimes. While Mr. Carter did his best to make amends for enabling Mr. Wilson’s robberies, he too is responsible for Mr. Wilson’s actions, and he too has been held accountable for the risk of violence he helped create.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Madeline C. Woodruff prosecuted both Mr. Wilson’s and Mr. Carter’s cases on behalf of the Commonwealth. Norfolk Police Detective Peter G. Kolb served as lead investigator.
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