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Ford takes plea agreement in armored car robbery

Horn will not oppose 120-day shock incarceration

By TERESA RESSEL
Daily Journal Staff Writer

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

How much time Eugene Ford will spend in prison for an armored car robbery is now in the hands of the judge.

On Tuesday, Ford, 60, of Arnold, pleaded guilty to stealing. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20 before Circuit Judge Scott Thomsen.

As part of the plea agreement, Prosecuting Attorney Wendy Wexler Horn agreed to dismiss the armed criminal action and robbery charges and recommend no more than 10 years in prison. She said if Probation and Parole recommends it, she will not oppose a 120-day shock incarceration program.

Horn said Ford was offered the plea agreement because he provided testimony against the other two defendants, Scott Mackinnon and Ford’s daughter, Leann Dotson. Both pleaded guilty to charges just days before their trial dates. Mackinnon was sentenced to 20 years in prison while Dotson was sentenced to life in prison.

Ford told the judge he had no prior convictions. He also said he and his wife are now the primary caregivers of their three grandchildren and his wife has cancer.

According to police reports, an armored van belonging to Security Armored Car Service stopped at the Mobil station off Karsch Boulevard Aug. 16, 2006, to pick up some cash and get fuel. The armed driver got out of the van and began pumping fuel, while the passenger, also an armed guard, went inside the convenience store to pick up a shipment of money.

According to police, Dotson, approached the guard at the side of the van and showed a chrome revolver. She reportedly told him, “Don’t you even move.” She then jumped in the van and drove away.

The armored guard reported seeing a silver car, later identified as a Chrysler Sebring, follow the van off the parking lot. A white and red pickup truck also was seen with the car at one point.

About 30 minutes after the theft, a county resident reported finding the armored van in a private drive off Colony Church Road, southeast of Farmington. The engine was still running, and the doors were open on the van. The money that had been inside from previous collections in the day was missing.

It was the surveillance camera of a farmer living on the private lane off the county road that ultimately led to the quick arrests in the case. The images of the suspects’ car and truck were captured plainly by the camera.

A tip came in of a red and white pickup truck being spotted in western Ste. Genevieve County. The driver was identified as Mackinnon. He was located late that evening by investigators with the Farmington Police Department. He was taken into custody for questioning, and reportedly provided information regarding his girlfriend, Dotson, and her father, and their involvement in the incident.

Officers impounded Mackinnon’s red and white Chevy S-10 pickup and by early the next morning had recovered a portion of the stolen money from an address in Maplewood. Two teams were formed and surveillance began on the known addresses of Dotson and Ford. Dotson was found at her home in Jefferson County. She gave officers permission to search her home, where they found the Chrysler Sebring. She reportedly admitted her involvement in the theft to investigators, but has said it was Mackinnon’s idea.

A short time later Dotson’s dad, Ford of St. Louis, was stopped while trying to leave his home in southern St. Louis County. A search of the car he was driving at the time turned up evidence linked to the armored van case. He later admitted to his involvement in the theft. Investigators searched Ford’s home after obtaining a search warrant and found additional evidence related to the case, along with the gun believed to have been used by Dotson.

Teresa Ressel is a reporter for the Daily Journal and can be reached at 573-431-2010, ext. 179 or at tressel@dailyjournalonline.com.

Published: Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
Updated: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 9:14 AM CDT

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