Man Pleads Guilty to Robbing Broken Arrow QuikTrip

Topics:  QuikTrip

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Oklahoma
4 September 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TULSA, Okla.— United States Attorney Trent Shores announced that Devon Deshon Thomas, 23, of Tulsa, pleaded guilty Tuesday to robbery of a Broken Arrow QuikTrip using coercion through force and fear.

The United States prosecuted Thomas under the Hobbs Act, which specifically targets violent criminals who negatively impact interstate commerce in any way. Thomas entered the plea to the entire indictment and is scheduled for sentencing on December 5, 2018.

Thomas admitted to robbing a Broken Arrow QuikTrip, located at 3502 West Kenosha Street, on May 30, 2018. Shortly after 3:30 a.m., two masked subjects brandishing what appeared to be firearms forced the QuikTrip attendant to open the cash register. The two stole nearly $300, then fled from the store in a four-door sedan with a damaged front-end.

U.S. Attorney Trent Shores stated, “In a collaborative effort to keep our communities safe, my office will consistently prosecute violent offenders as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, a program reenergized last year due to its success in curbing violent crime. My office continues to work closely with law enforcement in the Northern District of Oklahoma to bring these criminals to justice.”

Through the course of the investigation, the Broken Arrow Police Department, in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, linked Thomas to the vehicle used in the crime and identified him as one of the two subjects involved. Investigators then executed a search warrant and discovered two black air-propelled handguns that resembled actual firearms, as well as the clothes and mask matching descriptions previously provided to police. The two suspects were further implicated in surveillance video from a nearby Wal-Mart, where they could be seen shoplifting the air-propelled handguns shortly before the crime.

This prosecution was part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative and resulted from a joint investigation conducted by the Broken Arrow Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan M. Roberts prosecuted the case.