Dothan police arrest two in local robberies

Dothan police investigators made arrests in two unrelated robberies over the past three days, including a 35-year-old man charged with stealing a pair of Reebok shoes from Sears.

Investigators arrested Phillip Kevin Johnson on Tuesday and charged him with felony third-degree robbery. Investigators charged Johnson, of South Edgewood Drive, with stealing the shoes from the store located in the 600 block of West Main Street on Jan. 12.

Capt. Steve Parrish said store employees apparently had Johnson under surveillance while he was inside the store. Parrish said police charged Johnson with robbery because he physically resisted capture at the store, and two employees suffered minor injuries.

Johnson escaped, and according to a police statement, was arrested during a traffic stop on Cottonwood Road. Johnson was taken to the Houston County Jail and held on a $50,000 bond.

In an unrelated robbery, police arrested Byron Devoye Beachem, 34, on Wednesday and charged him with felony third-degree robbery. According to the warrant, police charged Beachem with stealing a purse from a woman on Sunday in the 2900 block of Nottingham Way. The purse reportedly had a .38-caliber handgun inside it.

A $15,000 bond was set on the robbery charge.

According to court records, Circuit Court Judge Butch Binford also denied Beachem probation on Wednesday on an unlawful possession of controlled substance charge. Dothan police arrested Beachem in August 2007, and charged him with the felony drug charge. According to court records, Beachem pleaded guilty to the charge last month. Binford sentenced Beachem to serve five years in prison for the drug charge.