Savannah, Georgia

From the Savannah Morning News of June 13, 2005

Armed robbery suspect shot, then jailed

Chatham Metropolitan Police arrested Willie J. Smith on Saturday after he was released from Memorial Health University Medical Center.

Smith, 29, is being held at the Chatham County jail on one count of armed robbery.

Police are still searching for two men who are believed to have entered Top of the Line Fashions and Accessories at 2903 W. Bay St. with Smith on May 31. One of them had a gun, police said.

Cashier Navon Stroman, 25, stopped the three men from robbing the store when he fired his .38-caliber revolver, a police report says.

At least one shot struck Smith, police said.

Police were unable to locate the three men, who drove off in a rust-colored car.

But soon afterward, a rust-colored car pulled up at the hospital's emergency room and dropped off Smith.

Smith denied involvement in the armed robbery, telling detectives he was shot at Jefferson and West 40th streets while walking to his mother's house, the report says.

Smith told police an unknown car pulled up alongside him, fired at him and then drove off, the report says.

He said he didn't see the shooter, but described the car as a dark-colored vehicle with tinted windows that looked like an unmarked police cruiser, the report says.