One of our very own helped solve a case of a serial robber who left a trail of victims from Louisville to Los Angeles and lasted more than 3 years. It all started when Louisville Metro Police Robbery Detective Jerry Zehdner was watching a WAVE 3 broadcast back in December when he recognized the suspect of an Austin, Texas hold-up. Jerry recognized the suspect, Lloyd Rhodes, as someone that had pulled a couple of armed robberies here in Louisville. Rhodes had robbed the Jillian's and K.T.'s restaurants here in Louisville.
Rhodes robbed the K.T.'s restaurant in June of 2003. At that time nobody knew who Rhodes was and all we had to go on was pictures from the video. "The case was going nowhere," said Det. Zehnder. In June of 2005 the Jillian's Restaurant on Barrett Avenue was robbed but this time Rhodes was not so fortunate.
Officer Jason Poston responded to the hold-up alarm and caught Rhodes after a brief struggle. Detective Zehnder credits a large portion of what transpired in this situation to Officer Poston. Without Officer Poston's quick response and capture of the suspect, Rhodes would have gotten clean away once again.
Rhodes gave the name Michael J. Dotson the night he was arrested for the Jillian's robbery. The next day he was arraigned and put under a $25,000.00 full cash bond. Since Rhodes had no ID and it was up to Metro ID to prove who he was. By the time his real identity was discovered, someone form Los Angeles flew to Louisville and posted his bond and Rhodes, AKA Dotson fled Louisville.
Det. Zehnder was watching the late night news back in December when he saw the story about a robbery suspect in Austin, Texas. After recognizing Rhodes, Detective Zehnder contacted the Austin Police Department and identified the suspect in their robberies. Detective Zehnder also provided a booking picture of the suspect to APD and it was all downhill from there.
Detective Zehnder likes to share the credit. He stated that without the open communication between APD and LMPD we would not have been able to bring this criminal to justice. Det. Zehnder kept in close contact with Det. Brian Miller. After receiving Zehnder's information, Det. Miller realized that he had a multi-state serial robber on his hand which changed the dynamics of his case.
Detective Miller bumped the case up a notch and the United States Marshall's Office and FBI became involved. Through further investigation Rhodes was located in Los Angles where task force members caught him coming out of a Residence Inn where he had been staying.
It seems that Police agencies in 5 States and 11 different cities have been looking for Rhodes. Rhodes is currently being held in Los Angeles on a $200,000.00 full cash bond. This type of criminal is one that is the hardest to track down and catch and without the dedication and commitment of LMPD Officer Jason Poston, APD Detective Brian Miller, the U.S. Marshall's Fugitive task force and Detective Jerry Zehnder this serial robber would still be on the loose.