FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On Dec. 10, Springfield officers responded to the area of 2131 N. Pierce to investigate a robbery after contacting a male victim at a convenience store at 1605 E. Kearney. The victim was able to tell officers that he worked for Pizza Hut and was delivering a pizza order to 2131 N. Pierce. Once the victim arrived at the delivery address, he rang the door bell and a male voice told him to come to the back door of the residence. When he walked to the back of the residence, he was approached by two males and one struck him in the head with a baseball bat. Then, the males took the pizza carrier containing the pizzas he was delivering and fled the scene. The victim was able to drive to the E. Kearney store for help, and he was transported to a hospital with serious head injuries.
During the investigation, officers found that the 2131 N. Pierce address was vacant. It was also noted that earlier this year, Yarbrough was contacted at 2131 N. Pierce for an unrelated incident.
Due to past contact with Yarbrough, officers recognized the address across the street (2120 N. Pierce) to be Yarbrough’s residence. Officers also determined that Yarbrough matched the victim’s description of one of the suspects.
Officers obtained consent to search 2120 N. Pierce for potential evidence. An aluminum bat was located in the yard. Inside, officers located Yarbrough’s wallet lying on top of a piece of paper that had the handwritten phone number of "417-882-2300" written on it, which is the main phone number for Pizza Hut delivery in the Springfield area. Officers also located a Pizza Hut pizza box in the trash can that was on the property of 2120 N. Pierce.
During follow-up investigation, a detective obtained the restaurant’s receipt for the pizza order which included 2131 N. Pierce delivery address and the caller’s phone number which matched that of Yarbrough’s.
Yarbrough is currently being held in the Greene County Jail on a $200,000 bond. The Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed charges against him today to include first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action.
The charges announced herein are merely an accusation, and Yarbrough is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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Case number: 15-49585
Media Contact: Lisa Cox, Public Affairs Officer
417-864-1786
[email protected]