LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) – Investigators used an unusual clue to determine the identity of a robbery suspect.
According to Lexington police, they have identified Lenard McDonald, 38, as the suspect in a robbery. Mcdonald is accused of robbing another man of cash and a pizza, pizza that ultimately served as an important piece of evidence in identifying the suspect.
On Tuesday, October 9, officers were dispatched to an apartment building in the 1300 block of Centre Parkway. The victim told officers that he was getting out of his car with two Hot-N-Ready pizzas from a local Little Caesars store when he was approached by two people, a man and a woman. The man pointed a gun at the victim and took cash from his pockets, along with one of the pizzas.
Officers were quickly hot on the trail of the suspects and located a woman, 33-year-old Tommie Rodgers, who matched the victim’s description. After initially stating that she witnessed the incident but didn’t know the armed robber, Rodgers told police that the suspect, Lenard McDonald, was, in fact, her boyfriend and that he was inside her apartment nearby.
Upon entering the apartment, officers located McDonald’s clothes and a Hot-N-Ready pizza box with an uneaten pepperoni pizza inside.
Photos of the pizza box were booked into evidence, along with surveillance video from outside the apartment building that confirmed McDonald had been in possession of the pizza just after the robbery occurred.
McDonald, 38, has active warrants for Robbery 1st and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.
Tommie Rodgers was charged with Hindering Prosecution/Apprehension 2nd. The search continues for McDonald, who detectives believe, in their exact words, “perpetrated the pilfering of the pepperoni pizza.”
Anyone with knowledge of his whereabouts is asked to contact Lexington Police by calling (859) 258-3600.
