Temple Men Indicted In November Robbery

Four Temple men were indicted by a Bell County grand jury Wednesday in connection to the robbery of a laundry business in November.

Matthew Diaz, 18, Patrick O’Neal Johnson, 19, Deontavius D’Tarris Griffin, 26, and Jeremy Oaties, 28, were indicted of first-degree felony charges of aggravated robbery.

According to police, Diaz entered the business on South 39th Street on November 7 and asked to use the phone. Griffin and Johnson allegedly entered shortly after while the owners of the business were distracted. Griffin then displayed a handgun and demanded that the cash register be emptied. Johnson is said to have stolen a cell phone from one of the owners before the three men fled the business and got into a grey vehicle allegedly driven by Oaties.

The victims followed the vehicle and contacted police on another cell phone.

Temple police entered the chase in the 1200 block of South 49th Street. Before apprehending the suspects, they reportedly witnessed a gun being thrown from the vehicle.

All four suspects have previous criminal histories.

Aggravated robbery is punishable by five to 99 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.