Two men charged in robbery, fatal shooting at Warner Robins gas station

Two men are facing charges in the homicide of Navaneetbhai Patel at the Citgo gas station on Russell Parkway in Warner Robins.

Roy Ford Jr., 19, and Alvin Dunn, 36, were charged with murder and armed robbery by Warner Robins Police Department detectives, according to a news release.

Patel was shot during the armed robbery of the Warner Robins store where his spouse was employed. He later died of his injuries at Houston Medical Center.

“Our heart goes out to the family,” said Capt. Chris Rooks of WRPD. “It is a tragedy, and I know that nothing we can do and the people that we arrest can’t take that pain away, but we do everything we can to make sure that those who’re responsible do go to jail and are punished for it.”

According to the arrest warrant, Dunn drove Ford to the gas station where Ford reportedly robbed a Citgo employee and then fatally shot Navaneetbhai Patel.

Ford and Dunn are being held at the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center on charges related to the armed robbery of a U.S. Postal Service in Macon on Black Friday.

They were arrested at noon on Thursday by U.S. Marshal Service’s Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force.

“The community will be a lot safer now that they’re in jail,” Rooks said.

Multiple agencies worked together to make the arrests including the Warner Robins Police Department, Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshal’s Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force, and U.S. Postal Inspectors, according to the release.

The police are looking to see if Ford and Dunn are possibly linked to other crimes in Middle Georgia, Rooks said.

“Crime crosses boundaries,” he said. “(The agencies) worked together and shared that information because if we don’t we’re going to miss out on a lot of cases that we could solve.”

This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 3:45 PM.