3 arrested for robbing Coweta County delivery driver of cargo

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - A delivery truck driver was accosted by three men during an early morning run in Coweta County. The men told the driver they wanted his cargo. The armed robbery was caught on camera.

It was 7:30 in the morning and the driver was on his normal route stopping at the Witcher Station convenience store along Highway 16.

What was so valuable, three men will hold up the truck at that hour of the day? Cigarettes, thousands of dollars in cigarettes.

Coweta County Sheriff’s investigators say one of the three men pointed at his waistband and told the driver not to do anything. Was he really armed? Deputies say they later found a gun.

This image from a surveillance camera shows a delivery truck in Coweta County that investigators say was robbed by three men on Dec. 29, 2022. (Coweta County Sheriff's Office)

The three men successfully robbed the driver, but would not evade the law.

On Interstate 85, a Coweta County deputy spotted a sedan matching the description of the car the truck driver told investigators in which the men fled.

"We had a deputy on the interstate near Fulton County. That vehicle did pass him. They were able to initiate a traffic stop and saw that there was a box of cigarettes in the backseat and then there were three more in the trunk and stickers on those boxes match what was stolen from the gas station," said Coweta County Sheriff’s Sgt. Toby Nix.

This image from a Coweta County Sheriff's deputy body cam shows a traffic stop where investigators say stolen cigarettes were found. (Coweta County Sheriff's Office)

Inside the car, deputies say they found more than $10,000 in stolen cigarettes. That is 154 cartons as well as a firearm.

Under arrest is Justin Stpehns, Labrinzo Matthews, and Thomas Way. All three men are charged with armed robbery and aggravated assault.

The truck driver told deputies he had been robbed the week before in Atlanta, but was unsure whether it was the same men.

Investigators are working with at least two other police agencies who believe the men might be responsible for similar crimes there.

All three men are being held at the Coweta County Jail while the investigation continues.