Woman Sought in Auto Parts Store Robberies Arrested After a Year's Search

A woman sought by police since fall 2012 on charges of armed robbery and first-degree assault in three Montgomery County robberies was arrested Thursday, Jan. 9, police reported. 

Wanda D. Battle, 45, of Suitland, was arrested in connection with three "violent armed robberies" at Advance Auto Parts stores in Montgomery County in 2011 and 2012, police said. A warrant was issued for Battle's arrest, police said, after two other suspects were arrested and convicted.

County police detectives turned to the public for help in locating Battle and received a tip about where she might be found. On Jan. 9, police arrested her outside a residence in Suitland. She was charged with three counts of armed robbery and three counts of first-degree assault, and was released on bond, police said.

The first armed robbery—at the Advance Auto Parts store, 15316 Frederick Rd., Gaithersburg—took place on Dec. 21, 2011. Two masked, male suspects approached an employee of the store as the employee was opening the store for business. The suspects forced the employee to open the store safe, then taped the employee’s hands and feet with duct tape, police said.

The second armed robbery—at the same store—took place on March 7, 2012. The suspects—a man and a woman—committed the robbery in the same manner as the previous one, police said.

The third crime took place on Sept. 16, 2012, at the Advance Auto Parts store at 6300 New Hampshire Ave., Takoma Park. A male and female suspect—both wearing disguises—entered the store wearing Just Tires employee uniforms. The male suspect forced an employee into an office at gunpoint and threw a female employee to the ground. Both suspects tied up employees with flex cuffs. A customer who entered the store during the robbery also was thrown to the ground. The suspects tried to put flex cuffs on the customer, but did not succeed, police said.

During the investigation, two of the suspects were identified as Steven Williams, 43, of Frederick, and Terriet Williams, 36, of Washington, DC. Williams was a former employee of the Rockville Advance Auto Parts store, and—at the time of the robberies—was an employee of Just Tires. Both men were arrested, convicted of the crimes and incarcerated.