Two Charged with Armed Robbery of Business

MADISON, WIS. – Scott Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Jeremiah D. Edwards, 33, Madison, Wisconsin, and Kanasha L. Woods, 24, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, were charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Madison on November 12, 2018 with the armed robbery of a business and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of that crime of violence.

The complaint alleges that on November 8, 2018, Edwards and Woods robbed the O’Reilly Auto Parts store on South Stoughton Road in the Town of Blooming Grove, Wisconsin, and that they brandished firearms during the robbery.

According to the complaint, a vehicle believed to be involved in a separate robbery and allegedly in the possession of Edwards was outside O’Reilly Auto Parts at the time of the robbery.  Madison police officers began a pursuit of the vehicle, which subsequently crashed.  Citizen witnesses indicated that two people had fled from the vehicle, and Woods was arrested in the area.  The second individual from the vehicle was not apprehended.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Edwards.  Anyone who has information about his whereabouts is encouraged to contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers at 608-266-6014.

If convicted, Edwards and Woods face a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison on the robbery charge, and a mandatory minimum penalty of seven years on the brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  Federal law requires that any penalty imposed for this charge be served consecutive to any sentence imposed on the robbery charge.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime.  The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.         

The charges against Edwards and Woods were the result of an investigation conducted by the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, Madison Police Department, Middleton Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The prosecution of this case will be handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rita Rumbelow and Corey Stephan.

You are advised that a charge is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.