Day: November 19, 2013

Incident #: 50-13-31941     Date/Time: Monday, November 18th at 2215

Location:  Pine Grove Apartments, 255 Webbs Lane, Dover

Narrative:   On Monday, November 18th at approximately 915 PM, officers from the Dover Police Department responded to an armed robbery at Pine Grove Apartments.  The male victim advised that two unknown black male suspects followed him from the corner of Nathaniel Mitchell Drive and Webbs Lane to the courtyard area of Pine Grove Apartments.  The victim advised that the suspects had been standing with a group of five subjects at the corner when he was walking home, to Pine Grove Apartments,  from Club Fitness in the Rodney Village Shopping Center.  Once the victim entered the courtyard area, the suspects approached him and with one commanding the victim to empty his pockets while the other motioned as if he had a handgun underneath a hooded sweatshirt.  The suspects fled the area towards Webbs Lane after taking the victims personal belongings.

Suspect Descriptions:

Suspect 1:  Black male, 5’8″, thin build, 19-22 years old, wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt

Suspect 2: black male, 5’8″, thin build, 17-19 years old, possibly wearing a green zip up hooded sweatshirt

Incident #: 50-13-30268     Date/Time: Friday, November 1st at 7:40 AM

Location: Duncan Depot Convenience Store (595 Forest Street, Dover, DE)

Original Narrative: At 7:40 AM on November 1st, 2013, Dover Police Department received a call of a stolen vehicle with children inside.  The parent, operating a 1999 White Ford Expedition, parked outside the store for a brief moment to make a purchase, leaving the children inside the running vehicle.  A short time later, an unknown black male suspect entered the vehicle and fled the area.  Dover Police officers checked the surrounding areas immediately.  A short time later, the vehicle was located on Willow Grove Road, near South Street in Camden, DE.  Both children were found unharmed in the rear of the vehicle, and were immediately reunited with the parent and other family members.

Update:  During the ensuing investigation into the November 1st incident, officers discovered a news release from the City of Wilmington Police Department, where a Dover man was arrested for a separate carjacking incident.  The suspects name in the Wilmington carjacking is Walter Gaston (DOB: 11-3-1969).  Officers noticed similarities in the Wilmington and Dover incidents, and developed Gaston as a suspect in the November 1st kidnapping and vehicle theft.  As a result of the evidence gathered from the investigation, Gaston was arrested and charged with two counts of Second Degree Kidnapping and one count of Theft of a Motor Vehicle.  Gaston is being held at the Howard R. Young Correctional Center in Wilmington, DE.

Defendant: Walter Gaston (DOB: 11-3-69)