Edom, Texas: Two Arrested in Game Room Armed Robbery, One Captured in Ohio

Two people have been arrested over an armed robbery at a game room near Edom in East Texas, one of them traced to Columbus, Ohio, after investigators said he had left the state to avoid prosecution.

The robbery happened on the morning of Sept. 11. Citing officials with the Van Zandt County Constables Precinct 4, KETK reported that Labryson Orange and Whitney Barnett arrived at the game room, threatened a clerk with a semi-automatic pistol and left with more than $8,000. KLTV, working from the same press release, reported that the pair drove off in a car borrowed from Barnett’s mother.

Surveillance video from the game room identified Orange, KETK reported, and Barnett was identified shortly after the robbery. KLTV reported that the Smith County Sheriff’s Office made that identification, and that warrants were issued for both at the conclusion of the investigation.

Barnett was the first of the two in custody, picked up during a traffic stop in Smith County on Thursday, Sept. 17. KLTV reported that jail records showed Barnett held at the Smith County Jail on charges of aggravated robbery and possession of marijuana.

Orange took longer. He was already wanted by the Smith County Sheriff’s Office on an unrelated felony charge, KETK reported, and was believed to have left Texas to avoid prosecution. The U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force joined the search and found him in Columbus, Ohio, where he was arrested on Saturday, Sept. 19. He is to be returned to Texas to stand trial, KLTV reported, citing the release.

Neither report identified the specific charge Orange faces in the Edom case.

In a statement quoted by KETK, the constable’s office thanked the East Texas Auto Theft Task Force, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Larry Smith, the Tyler Police Department, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Botie Hillhouse, and analysts with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Edom is a small community in Van Zandt County, about 18 miles west of Tyler. The business itself has not been named, and neither report carried any information about injuries.

Both suspects are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Related coverage from Game Empress: police in Las Vegas released photos of two suspects in a $57,000 robbery tied to the World Series of Poker, and a third defendant pleaded guilty in a federal case over illegal gambling businesses operating as arcades in southwest Missouri.