PETERSBURG, Va. -- Police have arrested a suspect after a tow truck driver was found shot to death around midnight Thursday morning in a Petersburg neighborhood.
Surveillance video time-stamped 11:46 p.m. showed a tow truck heading down Lakewood Drive towards Westwood. Minutes later, police received a 911 call from someone in the neighborhood.
“Homeowner concerned advises a tow truck on Lakewood that hasn’t moved since the gunshot was heard,” can be heard in emergency communications. “She also observed a sedan speeding off in the area.”
Police were called to the 3700 block of Westwood Drive near Lakewood Drive and South Crater Road at 12:09 a.m.
When officers arrived, they found the body of 42-year-old Elwood A. Humphries of Williamsburg, a Petersburg Police spokesperson said.
Police later arrested 20-year-old Anton B. Robinson of Petersburg in connection with the homicide.
Robinson, who was charged with first-degree homicide, is being held at Riverside Regional Jail.
Elwood A. Humphries of Williamsburg
Sources said the tow truck belongs to a repossession company in Richmond and that the man who was killed was sitting in the driver's seat.
"I didn't know the repo man got killed until I seen the undertaker and I knew something was wrong then," neighbor Kenneth Rose said.
Hours later, CBS 6 cameras captured another towing company arrive and pickup the tow truck. A separate truck also took a car from the yard.
Anton B. Robinson (PHOTO: Petersburg Bureau of Police)
Neighbors who live along Lakewood and Westwood Drive said the violence has shaken their community.
“This is the first time anything like this has ever happened in this area," Olanza McNeil said.
Police credited the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office, Emporia Police Department and Petersburg citizens for help in the case.
Humphries' murder is the city's first homicide of 2018.
A GoFundMe account has been created to help the family with funeral costs.
Anyone with information was asked to call Petersburg/Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212. Witnesses can send news tips and photos here.
