Food truck owner survives shooting, witnesses another decades later in Macon
As Macon police swarmed a deadly crime scene near Phillip Hinson’s food truck in December, he pulled his shirt up to look at his chest.
Two-decade-old discolored scars scattered his torso — a reminder of the day he survived a 2008 shooting, only four miles away from where he currently stood.
“Right on the Jones County line, I got shot,” Hinson said. “I was leaving my little store, they just tried to rob me as I was getting into my car.”
The 42-year-old father sells loaded potatoes and barbecue ribs from a truck in Shurlington Plaza, near where a teenager allegedly shot and killed 18-year-old De’Kerrio Jamontez Cobb at a Citgo gas station across the street on Dec. 17.
Hinson owned a few soul food restaurants in recent years in Macon and Warner Robins, including one at the same convenience store where he was shot. His current food truck is unnamed, but past food joints included Falloffthebone, Potato Po-Ta-Toe and My Potato.
Hinson’s mom, Diane Hinson, stood with him at the scene of Cobb’s death, and vividly recalled what happened to her son in the armed robbery two decades ago. A bullet narrowly missed his head.
“There was a hole in the steering wheel straight through the chair,” the 65 year old said. “There was a bullet hole in the head rest.”
Since then, the zipper manufacturing retiree has kept a close eye on her son for his safety while he and his kids work the food truck.
Staying on guard is the norm, she said.
“This is the way he lives, as far as paying his bills...,” Diane Hinson said . “I’ll sit in my car out here and watch his surroundings.”
Phillip’s daughter whipped up seasoned shrimp and steak on cheesy one-pound potatoes at the food truck on Friday, Feb. 6, a day before she turned 21 years old.
“It’s a little scary knowing that happened right there,” Jada Hinson said of Cobb’s death. “But I do it because I love it.”
She was around 3 years old when her father was shot, and said she admired his “strong” recovery.
The Hinson family is known for their authenticity and perseverance, having opened and closed previous restaurants where Tonya Robinson, a 40-year-old Maconite, has been longtime fan.
“I’ve known (Jada) since she was a little kid,” Robinson said, while holding her go-to one-pound potato .
“You get what you pay for: great customer service, professional, 10 out of 10,” Robinson said.
Hinson, a Jones County resident, hopes that one day he can afford to open a physical restaurant again, not just a food truck.
“It’s a lot of cost that occurs with a move. You know, hooking up utilities, deposits on location, restocking the inventory,” he said. “We just wasn’t ready for it.”
He doesn’t have a commercial fridge, so he buys food locally each day before he sets up the truck and cooks it fresh to order.
Hinson hopes people will continue supporting his food truck, which is his only form of income. He posts on his personal Facebook account what days he’s selling food in Shurlington Plaza .
“We do what we can. (The food) I cook today, I got it yesterday, prepped it last night,” he said, then went off to serve another potato-wanting customer.
