By G. T. Houts
UPDATE – Thursday. June 19 – 4:24 a.m.
Twin Peaks, CA – Most Wanted fugitive Justin Dee Hightower, 38, was recognized by an ROTWNEWS reader who notified authorities of his location off the hill. Hightower was placed under arrest at the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino in Highland on Wednesday.
Hightower is now in custody at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga and being held on $100,000 bail. He is accused of dashing into Lake Gregory Trading Company and Pawn in Crestline and grabbing $500 cash from a female customer as she attempted to purchase a money order.
The unidentified female was reportedly Hightower’s on-off again girlfriend, according to the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Station advisory.
COURT HEARINGS
Hightower is scheduled to be arraigned on the robbery charge at 7 a.m. on Friday, June 20, in Rancho Superior Court, according to booking documents.
He is also scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. video arraignment on the same day for a failure to appear charge related to a drunk in public arrest in May of this year.
UPDATE – Wednesday, June 18 – 5:56 p.m.
Twin Peaks, CA – A tip from an ROTWNEWS reader lead to the arrest Wednesday of Most Wanted fugitive Justin Dee Hightower, 38.
Details of the arrest were not immediately available. However Captain Rick Ells from the Twin Peaks Station confirmed that Hightower was in custody and that the story and picture on ROTWNEWS was instrumental in deputies apprehending Hightower.
ORIGINAL STORY
Twin Peaks, CA – The Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Station has added 38-year-old Justin Dee Hightower to its list of the Mountain’s Most Wanted fugitives, according to Captain Rick Ells.
On Monday, June 16, Hightower reportedly entered Lake Gregory Trading Company and Pawn in the 23900 block of Lake Drive in Crestline and fled after grabbing $500 cash from an unidentified female customer.
THE INCIDENT
Twin Peaks deputies responded to the scene and reported that the 4:21 p.m. incident involved Hightower’s on-off again girlfriend who was not named in the media advisory.
The woman was in the process of handing the store clerk $500 for a money order when Hightower allegedly grabbed the cash from the female victim and fled into the nearby creek bed.
An area search — that involved the Sheriff’s Department helicopter — failed to locate Hightower.
DESCRIPTION
Hightower is described as being 6-feet 1-inch tall and weighing about 190 pounds.
The suspect has blonde hair and blue eyes, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
ALREADY A FUGITIVE
Hightower, according to court records, was already a fugitive after failing to appear for a court arraignment on May 21 on a charge of being drunk in public. (404)