Lancaster police arrest robbery suspect

Police have arrested a Heath Springs man in connection to a violent robbery in a shopping center parking lot.

Arkevus Jimon Cauthen, 28, was arrested Friday at his home on Reeves Street and charged with strong-arm robbery.

The night before, a woman in her 40s was loading groceries into her car at the Walmart on the Highway 9 Bypass at 11 p.m. when she was approached by a man who attempted to take her pocketbook. When the woman resisted, the man struck her several times in the face and knocked her to the ground, according to Lancaster police.

The robber was seen fleeing the area in a vehicle that investigators later tracked to Cauthen’s home. A search reportedly uncovered the woman’s cell phone and paper work belonging to the victim. The woman also identified Cauthen in a photographic line-up.

Police are investigating any connections Cauthen might have to two other purse-snatchings in the area in the past week, one ain the parking lot at Springs Memorial Hospital and one at Aldi’s, according to a press release from the Lancaster police department.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Lancaster police arrest robbery suspect."