Late Monday night, while under surveillance, Elliott allegedly tried to rob the Country Hearth Inn in Danville, and police moved in.
“Once they realized he was robbing the Country Hearth, everybody moved in,” Harvey said.
The four Danville robberies in which Elliot allegedly was involved occurred at Brookcove Center on Jan. 27, Comfort Suites on Jan. 31, Super 8 on Feb. 1, and Country Hearth Inn Tuesday morning.
Assistant Danville police chief Tony Gray said with economic conditions what they are, it’s becoming more commonplace for would-be robbers to hit multiple communities.
“With today’s economy and drugs and things like that, people that are committing crimes are branching out from their immediate surroundings,” he said.
Late Monday night, witnesses said a white male armed with a small handgun entered the motel, demanded money from the clerk and fled in a black passenger car toward Rally’s on the Danville bypass.
Officers stopped Elliot’s car at the intersection of the bypass and Denmark Drive and took him into custody without incident, according a Danville police news release.
Police found money from the Country Hearth Inn robbery and a weapon in Elliot’s car and transported him to the police station for questioning by detectives from various agencies.
Elliott had reportedly attempted to become employed at Boyle County law-enforcement agencies. Police found a job application for the Danville Police Department in the car, and Boyle County Sheriff Marty Elliott said Justin Elliott had applied for a position with the Boyle County Sheriff's Office and had been interviewed in January.
Elliott was also a former part-time telecommunicator with Jessamine County E-911 from 2008-2010, according to Tammy Durham with the E-911 office.
Police said after he confessed to his involvement, he was lodged in the Boyle County Detention Center on charges from the four Danville robberies. More charges are expected from other agencies as detectives proceed with investigations.
“I can’t say enough about the collaborative effort between agencies,” Gray said. “It was a collaborative effort that led to an arrest and everybody going home safely.”
Editor’s note: Staff writer Mandy Simpson of the Advocate-Messenger, a sister paper to The Jessamine Journal, contributed information to this story.
