By Joe Johnson
The Athens-Clarke County Police Department has obtained arrest warrants for a paroled felon in connection with robberies at two Athens convenience stores last month, according to Capt. Christopher Nichols, commanding officer of the department’s Criminal Investigations Division.
The suspect, Moses Jerome Tidwell, 55, of Monroe is in custody at the Walton County Jail following his arrest Friday in Monroe, for a robbery he allegedly committed on April 11 at a Dollar General store in that city.
He is also suspected in store robberies in Loganville, Covington and Rockdale County.
According to Nichols, the Athens-Clarke County warrants charge Tidwell for an April 7 robbery at Golden Pantry on North Milledge Avenue in which the suspect jumped over the checkout counter and grabbed an undisclosed amount of money from an open cash register.
The other Athens robbery happened April 16 at another Golden
Pantry, at Atlanta Highway and Timothy Road where a man wearing a medical mask, ball cap and hoodie snatched an undisclosed amount of money from a register after a clerk opened it, Athens-Clarke County police said.
The suspect also stole cellphones from two employees, including an iPhone 10 valued at $2,000, according to police.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Tidwell is a career criminal who has served four state prison convictions beginning in 1992.
He was convicted of armed robbery, aggravated assault, robbery by sudden snatch, and possession of cocaine in Columbia, Spalding and Fulton counties, according to the DOC.
Tidwell was paroled in May 2018 from the Clayton Transitional Center after serving time for a robbery conviction.