Man arrested in recent gas station robberies has history of burglary
Two family members were arrested Monday on charges of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery of two local convenience stores.
According to Columbia police, Quantrell T. Brookins, 26, and Oscar M. Brookins, 28, attempted to rob an Eagle Stop on North Providence Road on Friday. Police said the men ran after seeing an on-duty security guard.
After police arrested the relatives, detectives served a search warrant on their home. Police said they found evidence related to a Jan. 9 armed robbery at the Break Time on Nebraska Avenue.
According to probable cause statements for the Brookins brothers, an employee at the Welcome Inn, near the Eagle Stop, called police Friday afternoon after they found a revolver bb gun, knife and sweatshirt near the hotel’s dumpster.
Police took the items into evidence.
The probable cause statements states that on Monday, staff at the Welcome Inn called police again. They told police that they found surveillance from the night of the Eagle Stop attempted robbery.
Police said the surveillance video showed Quantrell and Oscar leaving the Welcome Inn about five minutes before the robbery, wearing the same clothes as the suspects in the surveillance video from Eagle Stop.
Welcome Inn staff said that the brothers had been living in the hotel since June 2016.
According to court documents, Quantrell Brookins was convicted in 2011 of second-degree burglary and was incarcerated in Marion County. He was also charged in 2015 with driving without a valid license.
