Charges filed against men who alleged robbed friend in Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. — A pair of Georgia men were back in the Butler County jail today after felony charges were filed against them in connection with an alleged robbery of a friend at the Pear Tree Inn.

Erntavious Bernard Martin, 23, of Albany, Ga., and Clayton Pierce Davis, 23, of Leesburg, Ga., were booked into jail after their arrests at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the intersection of Broadway and Main by Poplar Bluff Police Patrolman Daniel Mustain on warrants issued by Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth, who set their bond at $100,000 cash.

The warrants were issued after Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher charged Martin and Davis with the Class A felony of first-degree robbery and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action.

The complaint on file with the court alleges on Monday, Martin and Davis "forcibly stole cash money owned by Reggie Lloyd, and in the course thereof [each] was armed with a deadly weapon" and they committed the "foregoing robbery ¿ by, with and through the use, assistance and aid of a deadly weapon."

According to statements to officers with the Poplar Bluff Police Department, Lloyd, Martin, Davis and a witness, Michael Weinhoff, spent Sunday night in a room at the Pear Tree Inn, Detective David Sutton said in his probable cause affidavit.

At about 8:50 a.m. Monday, "Martin and Davis assaulted Lloyd as he exited the bathroom area of their motel room," Sutton said. "Martin flourished a Hi-Point .45-caliber pistol, which Lloyd had left on a night stand in the room.

"A struggle ensued and Martin dropped the pistol on the floor. Davis picked up the pistol and struck Lloyd repeatedly in the head" with the pistol.

The struggle reportedly ended, but "Davis stood in front of the door," blocking Lloyd's escape, Sutton said. "Lloyd shouted 'Take my money; it's not worth it.' Davis threw the pistol to Martin, and took cash from Lloyd."

After Davis allegedly released Lloyd, he, Martin and Weinhoff "gathered their belongings and left in Weinhoff's vehicle," Sutton said.

When Weinhoff reportedly stopped at a convenience store for fuel, "Martin wrapped the stolen .45-caliber pistol in a white T-shirt and discarded it in a trash can by the gas pumps," Sutton said. "Martin stated that Davis divided the cash [taken during the robbery] evenly between himself, Martin and Weinhoff, but stated that Davis counted only $600 [$200 each]."

Lloyd, Sutton said, had reported Davis allegedly stole between $1,000 and $1,200 from his pocket.

Weinhoff, Martin and Davis were arrested and brought back to Poplar Bluff for questioning after Weinhoff's vehicle was stopped by officers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Dexter Police Department at about 10:15 a.m. Monday on U.S. 60, two miles west of Dexter.

Weinhoff subsequently was released without charges.