Two accused of armed robbery in Mascoutah

Two metro-east men are in the St. Clair County Jail in connection to an armed robbery reported April 11 in Mascoutah.

Mascoutah Police Chief Bruce Fleshren announced Thursday that 19-year-old Deonte C. Williams, of Mascoutah, and 20-year-old Jason D. Cotton, of Belleville, were each charged with one count of armed robbery with a firearm, a class X felony. The state’s attorney’s office also charged Cotton with one count of attempted armed robbery with a firearm. Bail for each suspect is set at $250,000.

Fleshren said Mascoutah police responded to a residence at 35 W. Green St. on the day of the incident. Police said the robbery occurred at 11:30 a.m. April 11. Three males in their 20s were inside the house when they were joined by two other people. The two reportedly stayed for a short amount of time and left. Within a couple minutes, police said one suspect went back inside the home and displayed two handguns. The suspect allegedly took a backpack and fled.

The victims said they recognized one of the suspects from around the area.

Two days later, St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department arrested one of the suspects, Williams, on unrelated charges.

Cotton was arrested in Belleville on Wednesday without incident.

If convicted, each suspect faces a minimum sentence of six years in prison.

“This is not a common occurrence for Mascoutah, and the police department is grateful to neighbors who provided information to assist in this investigation,” Fleshren said. “We are very happy that no one was injured and we were able to identify and locate the suspects very quickly, so that no one else would become a victim of these two.”

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 9:03 PM with the headline "Two accused of armed robbery in Mascoutah."