SUSPECTS IN FIVE CAPE ROBBERIES ARRESTED IN SIKESTON

Two suspects in five Cape Girardeau armed robberies were arrested Thursday in Sikeston, Mo., following an anonymous tip.

Police picked up Delores Johnson Wright and Eric C. Thomas after a motorist passing a house in the Sunset neighborhood of Sikeston saw Thomas in the front yard, Cape Girardeau police officer Alvin Spencer said.

"We knew they were in Sikeston, we just didn't know where," Spencer said.

The motorist called Southeast Missouri CrimeStoppers with the information. Sikeston police detectives arrested the pair.

Wright, 42, and Thomas, 33, are suspects in robberies that occurred on Cape Girardeau streets between May 10 and May 20, police Cpl. Rick Schmidt said. The robberies involved a woman approaching strangers to ask for directions followed by a man wearing a ski mask carrying a handgun. None of the victims was injured, but they were robbed of cash, cellular phones and other items.

Wright is charged with three counts of first-degree robbery. Thomas is charged with receiving stolen property. Both are being held in lieu of $500,000 cash-only bonds -- Wright was in the Cape Girardeau County jail in Jackson and Thomas in the Cape Girardeau city jail late Thursday.

Armed robbery is a class A felony punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison. This means the person who contacted police may receive between $500 to $1,000 from CrimeStoppers, said Kevin Govero, a CrimeStoppers board member. A decision on a reward should be made at CrimeStoppers' next board meeting, Govero said.

Court records allege Wright and Thomas attempted to sell a Nokia cellular phone and a Fossil brand watch to a man about noon on May 20 on North Benton Street. Both items, valued at approximately $200, were stolen in an armed robbery about midnight the day before.

Two other robbery victims identified Wright from a photograph taken of the suspect when she was arrested on an unrelated charge, Schmidt said.

Thomas has not been identified by any of the victims as the man wearing a ski mask and threatening them with a gun. A photograph of Thomas was available to police from a previous arrest.