Man arrested in September KFC robbery

A fugitive on the lam for seven months in the armed robbery of a Cape Girardeau KFC was arrested in Charleston, Mo., Friday.

Jimmy Walker, 30, of Village on the Green, was charged in an arrest warrant Sept. 6 with first-degree armed robbery and armed criminal action. He remained wanted by authorities until Charleston police arrested him Friday afternoon.

Walker is accused of planning and acting as a getaway driver in the July 21 robbery at KFC, 2101 William St.

The Charleston Department of Public Safety received a tip that Walker was working at a local motel undergoing remodeling and had also been staying there, Cape Girardeau police spokesman Jason Selzer said.

Around 12:30 p.m. Friday, Charleston police, along with officers from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Southeast Missouri Drug Task Force, arrested the defendant at the motel, Selzer said.

Walker was arrested without incident, according to Kevin Glaser, director of the task force.

"They kind of caught him off guard," he said.

Glaser said the task force was at the arrest to assist. He did not know what the DEA's involvement was with Walker, and representatives from the agency and the U.S. Attorney's office declined comment. A representative from the Charleston Department of Public Safety did not return messages.

Walker was extradited back to Cape Girardeau County where he appeared briefly in court Monday to have an assistant public defender appointed as his attorney.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for the defendant at 3 p.m. May 4 before Associate Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp. Walker was being held in lieu of $50,000 bond.

In February, two youths were sentenced to 10 years in prison for carrying out their role in the theft.

Certified as adults, Semaj Lumas, 16, and Isaiah Lane, 15, both pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and armed criminal action. Lane also pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon.

During the robbery, Lane was captured on videotape holding a gun to the head of a KFC employee, the prosecuting attorney's office stated. KFC employees also reported that the robbers threatened to kill them.

About $2,200 was stolen during the heist.

kmorrison@semissourian.com

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