State Troopers Nab Armed Robbery Suspects

At approximately 8:30 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, January 15, 2009, the Johnson City Police Department issued an alert after an armed robbery at a Chevron gas station, located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 11E and State Route 36 in Johnson City. Trooper Joshua Orlowski was nearby and soon spotted the suspects’ vehicle, a 2001 white Chevy Blazer.   Trooper Orlowski and Trooper Jacob Stielow attempted to stop the SUV, but the suspects fled. A pursuit then followed with speeds reaching 100 miles per hour. Trooper Orlowski pursued the Blazer out of Johnson City and onto I-26 towards Kingsport. Another THP patrol unit joined in the pursuit in Sullivan County, and Kingsport Police officers blocked several exit ramps along I-26 until the chase came to an end near the Virginia state line.

 

Troopers arrested the driver of the vehicle, 30-year-old Andrea Minardi of Mars Hill, North Carolina, as well as her passenger, 37-year-old Randy Lamar Foster of Asheville, North Carolina. Surveillance video from the gas station clearly showed that a weapon was used in the robbery, and Minardi was able to give a location where the gun had been thrown out of the car. Officers recovered the weapon and nearly three hundred dollars in cash.

 

Minardi now faces a long list of charges, including robbery, felony evading arrest, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, speeding 100 mph in a 55 mph zone, and improper passing. Foster also faces robbery charges.