Three Gary men — including one who was recently acquitted of a murder charge — have been charged in Lake Superior Court with armed robbery, criminal confinement, burglary and residential entry.
On the day Larry Dobby Colquitt III was released from Lake County Jail on a $1,000 bond posted in a case charging him with carrying a handgun without a license, authorities said he and two others robbed a woman, according to the probable cause affidavit. Also charged in the incident are Roderick Doniel Hicks, 29, and Jeremy Rucker, 23.
The woman said Colquitt had recently been jailed, and when he was released, he came to her house on the morning of June 1 to pick up his belongings, which the woman had packed. The woman told police that she returned everything to Colquitt except for eight bags of marijuana worth $10 apiece. Colquitt was kicking and banging on the door, so she called police and Colquitt left, court records state.
Later, the woman received a text from Colquitt asking where his money was, according to the affidavit, and she blocked his number. The woman kept receiving phone calls from a blocked number and getting messages threatening to break the woman’s car windows and throw a “cocktail” through her window if Colquitt didn’t get his weed or money, records state, which prompted her to move her car to a different parking lot and take her children upstairs.
The woman said she received a text from Hicks asking if he could pick up his girlfriend’s property, and the woman agreed as long as he didn’t bring Colquitt, records state. Hicks showed up 10 to 15 minutes later, and Colquitt and Rucker followed him inside, according to the affidavit, where Colquitt grabbed her by the throat, pushed her against the wall, chambered a round in the handgun he was holding and pointed it at her head while demanding his belongings. The woman directed them upstairs, where Rucker and Hicks searched and Colquitt stayed with the woman, who managed to break free and ran to the back door, court records state. Hicks, who also was carrying a gun, handed Colquitt the marijuana, but some dropped on the floor, and when Colquitt picked it up he also grabbed the woman’s phone from the floor, records state. The woman said she struggled with Colquitt and eventually got the back door open, and as the woman was running toward the side of the building, she heard what she thought was a gunshot, records state.
The three men ran to Hicks’ truck and drove away, records state. The woman told police $200 and her phone were missing.
The armed robbery charge is punishable by three to 16 years.
Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
