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Torsean Washington, left, and Johndarius Ward, right, are charged with unrelated robberies in the Jefferson County area.

(Jefferson County Jail)

Two Birmingham men are behind bars accused of separate, unrelated store robberies, and investigators say information developed and shared by detectives in the newely-opened Metro Area Crime Center led to both arrests.

Torsean Darnell Washington, 20, is charged in a November holdup of a Dollar General on Center Point Road. Johndarius Ward, 21, is charged with the robbery of a Family Dollar in Forestdale, which also happened last month.

In the first case, said Jefferson County sheriff's Chief Deputy Randy Christian, a suspect - later identified as Washington, entered the Dollar General about 10 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6, asked where the diapers were located.

He retrieved a pack of diapers, went to the checkout counter and pulled a gun. He demanded money from the cashier but she told him she couldn't open it and called for a store manager. Washington fled the store empty-handed.

Store surveillance video captured images of the suspect and a sheriff's office mobile surveillance platform captured video of him leaving the store, Christian said. Those images were distributed to detectives working in the Metro Area Crime Center at the sheriff's office.

Detectives from the Vestavia Hills Police Department and the Trussville Police Department were investigating other unrelated burglary cases from their jurisdictions. They showed a photo of the robbery suspect to a witness in their cases and developed Washington as a suspect.

Sheriff's detectives were able to positively identify Washington as their robbery suspect. An arrest warrant charging him with first-degree robbery was obtained on Nov. 14. On Monday, members of the U. S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force arrested Washington at a home near Center Point.

He also had outstanding warrants for failure to appear on first-degree robbery and possession of an altered firearm. He is being held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail.

The second holdup happened about 3 p.m. on Nov. 30 at the Family Dollar in the 1600 block of Forestdale Boulevard. Sheriff's detectives learned that Birmingham police and other surrounding law enforcement agencies were investigating similar robberies.

Again, Christian said, detectives enlisted the aid of the Metro Area Crime Center. Investigators in the MACC developed information that led detectives to Ward as the suspect in the holdups. They obtained a first-degree robbery warrant against him and, also on Monday, he was arrested.

Ward is being held in the county jail with bond set at $50,000.

Christian said the investigations into the robberies in other jurisdictions are ongoing and additional charges are expected against Ward.

The Metro Area Crime Center, a joint operation between at least half of the law enforcement agencies in Jefferson County, officially opened in late October and Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale promised it would be a game-changer for both investigators and criminals.

The center is located in the sheriff's office headquarters and features a massive bank of screens that can show images from Netvision 36O cameras on a trailer that can be moved, raised and scan 360 degrees. They can be placed at special events, such as this weekend's Magic City Classic, or moved to high crime areas, for example where there has been a spate of burglaries.

In the adjacent "War Room," which is basically a hub for all metro-area law enforcement agencies, the participating police departments have at least one desktop computer apiece where intelligence from all of the agencies can be viewed and shared.

"This is the kind of success we expected when we kicked this partnership off. We are seeing results on a weekly basis like reported here today,'' Christian said. "Matching crime-fighting technology with area agency crime-fighters in one room was long overdue and extremely effective."

"We want to congratulate the area mayors, police chiefs and other law enforcement agencies for understanding the potential of this initiative and having the foresight to become a part of it,'' he said. "Because of that cooperation, every area in this region will be safer. For criminals that are accustomed to operating in different jurisdictions unabated, the MACC will be like a giant dose of ipecac."