Three suspects in custody after string of armed robberies in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Two of three suspects were arrested this week in connection with seven robberies -- including three in one morning -- over a five-week span during the summer of 2024.

According to court records, Malachi Bowers is charged with seven counts of aggravated robbery and Sean West is charged with six counts as two of three suspects allegedly involved in the armed robbery of several business on throughout the city of Columbus.

Bowers and West, along with Lamonte Rayford, reportedly held three different store clerks at gunpoint on Aug. 8 of last year. Police said at 3:45 a.m. the three attempted to gain access to a United Dairy Farmers gas station near Reynoldsburg on Tussing Road, but the clerk was able to enter the building and lock the door before calling police.

Less than three hours later, the trio allegedly approached a clerk as she arrived at the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store near Canal Winchester on Gender Road, ordered her to disable the alarm, struck her on the head with a gun, and fled the scene with the keys to the store.

Two hours later, police arrived at the Dollar General store on West Broad Street in Franklinton. It was reported that the three suspects dragged a store clerk at gunpoint to the store’s safe and demanded she open it. The three reportedly took an undisclosed amount of money, a cell phone and the keys to the store.

Twelve days later, police were called to a Dollar General Store on Lockbourne Road in the city’s South Side, where Rayford and Bowers allegedly approached an employee outside the building, forced her inside at gunpoint and took money from the safe and registers.

On Aug. 22, all three suspects were reported to have robbed an O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store on Brice Road, also near Reynoldsburg, where they encountered a clerk opening the business at 5:30 a.m. The clerk told police they made her turn off the alarm and took money from the safe and her cell phone before leaving.

Nearly three weeks later, on Sept. 10, police reported that West and Bowers approached an O’Reilly’s Auto Parts clerk who was taking out the trash at the East Main Street location in Eastmoor. The employee told the suspects the safe had a delay on the it and West and Bowers left without any property.

Finally, on Sept. 18, West and Bowers were parked outside of an East Broad Street Rally’s restaurant in the Broadleigh area at 3:19 a.m. when they encountered an employee taking out the trash. One suspect held the employee at gunpoint while the other entered the restaurant and demanded money from the other employee. West and Bowers allegedly got away with an undisclosed amount of money.

Police said all reported robberies were captured on video surveillance and witnesses described West and Bowers as driving a black Dodge Charger during the incident at Rally’s restaurant.

Bowers and West were arrested Monday on multiple charges of aggravated robbery. They were each issued $1.5 million bonds in municipal court.

Rayford, who has not yet been formally charged with West and Bowers, is currently in Franklin County Jail while embroiled in two cases out of the Franklin Courts of Common Pleas.

He pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder, felonious assault with firearm specifications related to the fatal shooting of Michael Boyd on April 28, 2024, outside of the now-shuttered No Cap Hookah Lounge. He is also awaiting trial on drug trafficking and drug possession charges from the same incident.