Getaway driver links himself, 2 others to separate robbery
A man in custody for his involvement with a March shooting has given police information connecting himself and two other men to another armed robbery.
Kevin Michael Lyke, 20, told police he, Chany Paul Anade, 21, and Ojulu Obang Onyongo, 20, were involved in a Feb. 27 home invasion.
Anade was charged April 21 with four felonies; first-degree aggravated robbery, first-degree burglary with a dangerous weapon, second-degree assault and a firearm violation. Onyongo — who is in custody for the March shooting — and Lyke — who pleaded guilty in the shooting as the getaway driver — have yet to be charged. Two other men allegedly involved in the February robbery are at large.
Around 11 p.m. on Feb. 27, police received a report of four men breaking into a house in the 800 block of Eighth Avenue SW. According to court documents, one adult in the home told police the men entered through the side door, and one had a shotgun.
The men allegedly demanded money and marijuana, and when they were unable to find either, they took a cell phone and a laptop.
The suspects’ trail grew cold until April 12, when one of the victims told police she recognized a suspect from the March shooting as one of the men from the February burglary. Police investigated, and found that a shotgun shell from the February burglary was identical to the shells from the shooting. Shoe prints of one of the shooting suspects — Lyke — also matched at both scenes, according to a court complaint.
When officers spoke with Lyke, he admitted he and Onyongo accompanied Anade and two other men the night of the February robbery. Lyke told police the target was a “marijuana dealer” and the men brought two guns. He also said one of the unidentified men had been involved in a convenience store robbery in the Pacific Northwest in which a store clerk was shot.
Police then questioned Anade, who said he was in jail the night of the robbery, although he was released days before the incident. He continued to deny involvement, saying he didn’t have “time to go out and rob anybody.”
The next day, police questioned Anade again, and he admitted to being involved. He told police they took two shotguns to steal marijuana, and left with a cell phone and a laptop.
According to the court complaint, the men returned to someone’s apartment at the old Downtown Motel after the robbery. Lyke and Onyongo were arrested March 29 at the motel in connection with the March 28 shooting.
Anade, who was convicted of second-degree aggravated robbery Feb. 25 in an unrelated incident, is scheduled to enter his plea May 5.