A Lynchburg man and female teen face multiple charges for a Roanoke robbery that led to an overnight standoff at the Rodeway Inn. Police have charged 18-year-old Alex Joe and the juvenile with holding up a woman at gunpoint early today in the Market Square area. Officers later found the car matching the license description at the motel, and the two eventually came out of their room. Police in Lynchburg say the car the pair used was taken in a carjacking earlier that night.
From Roanoke and Lynchburg Police: On March 14, 2018 at 1:00 a.m., Roanoke Police responded to Market Square regarding a robbery. Officers located an adult female who advised that she was walking back to a downtown restaurant after withdrawing cash from an ATM machine. While walking, she was approached by a Toyota sedan that was occupied by a black male who exited the passenger side of the vehicle. The male pulled a mask over his face and approached the victim, pointing a handgun at her and demanding the cash and bank card that she was carrying. The male took the items from her and got back into the passenger side of the car which drive east on Campbell Avenue. The victim gave a tag number for the car and said that a black female was driving. The vehicle was located unoccupied in the parking lot of the Rodeway Inn. It was determined that the car was stolen in a carjacking in Lynchburg, Virginia on March 13, 2018 at 9:45 p.m.
Officers were able to determine a hotel room that was rented by the suspects. Officers were unable to get the occupants of the room to come out of their room. Additional members of the Roanoke Police Department responded and were eventually able to make personal contact with the occupants. The two were taken into custody without further incident. Child Protective Services was called to the scene to assist with a small child that was in the room.
The two were transported to the Roanoke Police Department where investigators from the Roanoke Police Department and Lynchburg Police Departments continued their investigations. Evidence from both incidents were recovered from inside the vehicle located in the parking lot.
Roanoke Police have charged Alex James Joe, age 18 of Lynchburg, with with Robbery and Use of Firearm for the incident occurring in downtown Roanoke. Lynchburg Detectives placed additional charges against Roe for the carjacking incident occurring in their jurisdiction. Joe is being held without bond in the Roanoke City Jail. The same charges are being placed by Roanoke Police against the juvenile female who was with Joe.
This is an ongoing investigation
