Joint Effort Nabs Armed Robbery Suspects

A concerned citizen is credited with tipping off authorities in today’s arrests of 28 year old Johnny Dewayne Dickerson of New Bern and 24 year old Nicole Kirston Thomas of Cove City.

Released from the NC Department of Corrections in early August of this year, Dickerson is said to be a career criminal.  He was taken into custody earlier this month for unrelated probation violations.  He’s now in the Craven County jail under a $1 million bond.

Dickerson is charged with three felony counts of Armed Robbery, 10 felony counts of Common Law Robbery, two felony counts of Attempted Robbery, three felony counts of Conspiracy to Commit an Armed Robbery, 10 felony counts of Conspiracy to Commit Common Law Robbery and two felony counts of Conspiracy to Commit Attempted Robbery. His first court appearance was this morning.  Thomas is charged with three felony counts of Conspiracy to Commit an Armed Robbery and 12 felony counts of Conspiracy to Commit Common Law Robbery.

—- Original Story by Philip Jones—-

Law enforcement in Craven County made “significant” arrests overnight related to the recent string of armed robberies in Craven County.

Since the last week in October, there have been at least 19 armed robberies in the county—12 of those in New Bern alone.

Police already had several suspects in custody related to the robberies, but New Bern Police spokeswoman Beth Stevenson said the arrests made overnight will come close to closing the books on the remaining investigations.

Personnel from the New Bern Police Department, Havelock Police Department, Craven County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s Office worked together, Stevenson said.

A joint news conference between the agencies is scheduled for 2:30 on Friday afternoon.