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Simmons Charged With Armed Robbery Of Convenience Store

A Century man that was recently one of Escambia County’s most wanted criminals has now been charged with the March 4 armed robbery of Moyes State Line Food Mart.

Shawn Demarcus Simmons, 30, was charged Monday with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill, grand theft and a robbery with a firearm. Simmons was already in the Escambia County Jail on charges of burglary, robbery, two counts of aggravated battery, stalking, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, criminal mischief and stalking.

The Escambia County Sheriff’s Department says Simmons was responsible for the March 4 armed robbery at Moyes. He is accused of forcing the clerk at gunpoint to empty the cash register. He also reportedly took several hundred of dollars in Florida Lottery funds and several lottery tickets. After robbing the clerk, Simmons allegedly robbed a customer at gunpoint.

K-9 units from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and Century Correctional Institution joined Escambia County deputies and Flomaton Police Department officers in a lengthy manhunt for the suspect. The manhunt was centered in an area bounded by Highway 29, Old Flomaton Road, Highway 4 and the Alabama state line.

Less than two hours after the Moyes robbery, a resident just south of the convenience store called 911 to report that a black male wearing a dark colored hoodie jacket was standing at her door, covered in mud. The resident also described the man as having lips that were light in color and appeared to be burned.

‘Don’t you know me? Don’t you remember me? The police are after me’,” the suspect told the woman, according to the sheriff’s office report.

The man reportedly asked the female if he could enter the house, but she refused and called for help. A black jacket was recovered by an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office crime scene technician from behind the woman’s residence. Deputies called off the search about three hours after the robbery, unable to locate Simmons.

The woman at the house later identified Simmons from a photo line up as the man that was at her door. Another witness that was outside the store prior to the robbery also picked Simmons out of a photo line up.

Gulf Coast Crime Stoppers later named Simmons as one of Escambia County’s most wanted fugitives after he was accused of robbing and pistol-whipping a Century man. Simmons was also the subject of additional manhunts in Century and Brewton, Alabama.

Simmons has remained in the Escambia County Jail since he was  arrested early the morning of March 24 following a manhunt involving officers from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Pensacola Police Department. Officers began their search for Simmons after he reportedly attacked a female on Lee Street in Pensacola.

For more details on that story, click here.

Pictured top inset: Tracking dogs are used to search for Simmons following a Century armed robbery. Pictured middle inset: A crime scene technician dusts the door of Moyes State Line Food Mart in Century after a March 4 armed robbery. Pictured below: Shawn Demarcus Simmons is a suspect in the March 4 robbery of Moyes State Line Food Mart in Century. NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.