Reginald Austen Ollie
Reginald Austen Ollie, 19, was arrested in the early hours of Jan. 21 and has been charged with 11 counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree theft of property. He is being held on a $690,000 bond.
Sgt. Jeremy Lockhart of the Jasper Police Department said Ollie, dressed in black clothing, approached a group of 10 people congregated in the parking lot of the Jasper Dollar Tree around 1 a.m. on Jan. 21.
Lockhart said witnesses reported Ollie asked to borrow a cell phone. Two of the people in the crowd recognized Ollie and one loaned him a phone, Lockhart said. Ollie then walked away for a few moments. Witnesses told Lockhart that Ollie put on a ski mask and walked back to the crowd holding a gun, demanding wallets and cell phones. After taking items from some of the group, Ollie fled on foot, Lockhart said.
“By the time we arrived, he was already gone,” Lockhart said. “We searched the wooded area around the shopping center, but he wasn’t there.”
Lockhart said one of the victims had an iPhone taken, and police used it to track him.
“I downloaded an app and had the ability to see exactly where he was at,” Lockhart said.
Police tracked Ollie to his Jasper home where a home owner gave officers consent to search the house. Lockhart said Ollie was found in a bedroom and taken into custody. The property that had been stolen hours earlier was recovered, and police also found the handgun and the clothing the suspect used in the robbery.
Jasper Police Chief Connie Cooner Rowe said the 11 counts of robbery Ollie has been charged with include an attempted robbery at the Super 8 motel in Jasper on Jan. 19. Rowe said third-shift officers displayed outstanding police work in finding Ollie.
“The night shift went well beyond just taking a report on this call,” she said. “They were able to employ some creative thinking that led directly to the suspect within hours of the crime happening, and he was under surveillance within minutes of the crime taking place.”