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Deputy’s Vigilance Leads To Arrest of Carjacking Suspects

Release Date: May 27, 2005

An alert Shelby County Sheriff’s Deputy who checked the registration of an SUV parked in a Frayser neighborhood ultimately discovered the vehicle had been stolen three days earlier during a carjacking.

This past Tuesday afternoon, May 24, 2005, about 1:30, Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Culley was patrolling an area along Benjestown Road near the Loosahatchie River in Frayser that is often the site for abandoned and stolen vehicles.

As Deputy Culley left the area and turned onto Carrolton Avenue, he noticed a 2004 GMC Envoy parked near a vacant house in the 700 block.

Acting on information provided by citizens, Deputy Culley identified two possible suspects who had been seen in the stolen vehicle. Deputy Culley then contacted Sheriff’s Office Detective Gene Lewers for assistance. The Deputies determined both men, Robert Garcia, 28, and Mony Pryor, 20, both of Memphis, were each wanted on misdemeanor charges. The men were arrested for those charges and interrogated about their role with the carjacking.

Robert Garcia	Mony Pryer

On May 21, 2005, about 10 p.m., the vehicle’s owner and another man were working on the SUV in the driveway of their home in the 2600 block of Amy Way in Frayser. That’s when the two men, one armed with a gun, approached the victims and demanded money. The owner gave the assailants his wallet which contained a small amount of money. After that, one of the suspects jumped into the victim’s SUV and sped away with the other suspect following him.

Detective Lewers, working in conjunction with Memphis Police Detective Sergeant Donald Hopkins, linked both Robert Garcia and Mony Pryor to the carjacking.

Both men have been charged with two counts of Aggravated Robbery.

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