Local & State Headlines

Robbery suspect released

• Police say they have insufficient evidence against a person arrested in a Wednesday robbery and shooting.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — Charges against an Albany man arrested in connection with a robbery where one person was shot in the leg have been dropped after investigators failed to find enough evidence to keep him in jail, police officials said.

Donald Winchester, 22, of Albany, was arrested and charged with four counts of aggravated assault, four counts of armed robbery and one count of burglary stemming from an incident at an apartment on the 800 block of West Lincoln Avenue early Wednesday morning, authorities said.

Friday, however, police say they were forced to release Winchester after evidence connecting him with the shooting failed to materialize.

“There just wasn’t enough solid evidence to hold him,” APD Spokesperson Phyllis Banks said.

According to police reports, Romal King, 26, of Albany, was treated and released from Palmyra Medical Centers after being shot in the leg with a pistol.

King, 23-year-old Crystal Roberts, 25-year-old James Hightower and 42-year-old Ivey Hampton were robbed at gunpoint after a knock at the door just before 1 a.m. Wednesday morning by two masked men, according to police reports.

According to the report, the men took two cell phones, a couple gold rings and more than $80 in cash before fleeing the scene.

Winchester had been linked to the crime after police were called to the 400 block of South McKinley Street, where Winchester’s cousin told police that he had been jumped by a group of men who thought he was involved in the shooting, the report says.

Winchester was uncooperative and was taken back to the apartment where the shooting took place, and then was taken to the Law Enforcement Center, according to the report.

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