for immediate release
July 8, 2004

N E W S   R E L E A S E

Thanks to an alert Okaloosa County Deputy, a string of post-midnight robberies came to an abrupt end.

Charged with two counts of Armed Robbery, one count of Attempted Armed Robbery, and with Possessing a Firearm During Commission of a Felony is Jason Ray Dedman (pictured left), age 19 (9-6-1984), of Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Two others, Thaddeus Lamar Rose (pictured right), age 23 (12-1-1980), of Fort Walton Beach and Ronald Lynn "R.J." Savage, Jr. (pictured bottom left), age 19 (2-14-1985), of Mount Juliet, Tennessee are both charged as Principals to Armed Robbery. In addition, Rose was charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance and Misdemeanor Possession of Marijuana after seven Diazepam pills and small bag of marijuana were found in his pockets.

The first robbery was reported at 12:17 this morning (Thursday morning) when two teenage boys told Deputies they had lost $75 cash to a gun-wielding young white man, who was accompanied by another young white man and a young black man. That robbery occurred on the beach a short distance west of Henderson Park, not far from the hotel where the victims were staying with their parents while vacationing in Destin.

The second robbery was reported 33 minutes later, ten miles to the west at The Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island. Two local residents told Deputies they were robbed at gunpoint of $30 cash as they sat in their car in the parking lot.

At 1:46 this morning, Deputy Mark Kuntz spotted two individuals who matched the descriptions of suspects from the robberies. Deputy Kuntz made a U-turn and pulled into a parking lot as a third robbery was in progress, near the Exprezit Store #706, at Highway 98 and Palmetto Street in Destin.

Dedman, identified as the gunman by the earlier victims, and Rose were taken into custody at the scene. Savage was located a short time later at a Destin motel where he was staying with his family. The revolver believed used in all three incidents was recovered at the scene.

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for more information contact Sgt. Rick Hord, Public Information Officer

(850) 651-7420

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