Man Alleged To Have Committed Armed Robbery Was Incarcerated At The Time

A follow-up on an armed robbery News 3 first told you about on Tuesday.  32 year old Eugene Waters was taken into custody after allegedly robbing a woman outside the Civic Center as the two left a job fair on Monday, but it wasn’t Waters first brush with the law - in fact, he was actually incarcerated at the time of the incident on Monday.

As Dereck Williams left the Civic Center Monday afternoon - he noticed a woman parked near him in a confrontation with another man, “I saw the guy with her - he was like you know, pushing her - trying to get her into the car - trying to snatch her stuff from her.”  He got in his car, but didn’t leave - keeping an eye on the situation in his rearview mirror.  He says the man took off running and after checking to make sure the woman was okay - Dereck took off after him, “He took off that way - she like - no don’t go after him, he got a gun - I’m like “don’t worry about it” and I just started running behind him.  We ran from here - he took off from here - ran all he way down along - going toward the elementary.”

Williams and another bystander called police on their cell phones as they followed the suspect. Waters was taken into custody before he could get far - but police say he was likely headed to the nearby Coastal Transitional Center - it’s where he’s been incarcerated pending possible parole in May of next year.  Inmates are allowed out during the day to seek work or work.  Now he’s booked into the Chatham County Jail on charges of armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon - some of the same charges he had just spent time in prison for.  “Wouldn’t believe that you would be in the halfway house and over here trying to rob somebody…hey - got a crook off the streets,” said Williams.

News 3 did contact the Georgia Department Of Corrections regarding this story.  We were told that they do not keep statistics on how many inmates commit crimes and are re-arrested while in the Transitional Centers.  Our other inquiries regarding policies and procedures at the institutions went unanswered - but on the Department Of Corrections website - it states that an inmate must be referred for the transitional program by either the State Board Of Pardons And Paroles or the prison staff - the decision is based on criminal history, behavior while incarcerated, and a number of other factors.