Man wanted for alleged robbery

PERKINS TWP. — Perkins Township police have issued warrants for a man suspected in a recent armed robbery. Ravion A. Beckley-Carter, 20, Detroit, is wanted for aggravated robbery and robbery, both of which are felonies. Police allege Beckley-Carter and two accomplices who have not been identified allegedly stole iPad tablets and MacBook laptops from a business in the 4300 block of Milan Road (U.S. 250) on May 8. Beckley-Carter and the two other males entered the store and said they were looking to purchase the electronics for a YouTube channel they had, according to Perkins Township police Detective Joseph Rotuno. A clerk got the devices, and the three advised they wanted the 10% discount for paying with a store credit card. All three applied for credit and were denied. It was later learned by police that the three used false information in the credit applications. The men then told the clerk they would just pay cash. At that point, Beckley-Carter allegedly leaned in and told the clerk he had been helpful up until then and he "really did not want to shoot him in the head," Rotuno said. Beckley-Carter then purportedly displayed what the clerk believed was a handgun. The three men then grabbed the devices and fled, according to police. An employee working at the front door of the business was alerted to the theft and followed the men outside in an attempt to photograph the car's license plate. Beckley-Carter turned around, motioned that he had a firearm and told the employee to put the phone away. Even though the employee could not get a picture, he was able to get the license plate number. The vehicle had plates from the state of Washington and was a rental vehicle. Beckley-Carter was identified through facial recognition software, Rotuno said. "It's not 100% but it appeared to be a match," he said. Through the use of a database of license plate readers, the vehicle was observed in the Detroit area both before and after the heist. Eventually, the vehicle was located in Warren, Michigan near an address associated with Beckley-Carter. Pattern of robbery Police arrested the driver of a car allegedly used in a similar robbery on May 12 at a Best Buy in Ontario, Ohio. Perkins police and Ontario police then compared surveillance video from the two incidents and observed three of the men allegedly involved in the Ontario robbery appeared to be the ones involved in Perkins Township. When Detroit police found the vehicle several hours after the Ontario incident, they arrested the driver. He then identified the others involved in the robbery. Police later learned of similar robberies in Novi, Michigan and Mishawaka, Indiana. The Novi store was hit on April 24, Perkins on May 8, Mishawaka on May 10 and Ontario on May 12. The three robberies outside of the local area all had at least one member of the Perkins Township suspects amongst them. Beckley-Carter was on probation. Once his probation officer learned of the warrants Perkins police put out, he entered Beckley-Carter as a violator. As of late Monday, Beckley-Carter is still at large. Perkins police have identified at least one other member of the crew but his name is not being released pending the issuance of warrants for his arrest. Anyone with information on this incident is encouraged to call the Perkins Township police detectives bureau at 419-627-0824, ext 5.