Suspect sentenced to nearly a decade in prison for Augusta County armed robbery

STAUNTON — A man who cased an Augusta County motel last summer before pulling a robbery has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of armed robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Jarohn D. Parham, 38, of Newport News, was sentenced to 23 years in prison with 13 years and two months suspended, giving him a total of nine years and 10 months to serve.

His accomplice, Darryl A. Vaughn, 34, also from Newport News, has pleaded guilty in the case but has yet to be sentenced.

On the night of Aug. 13, 2021, both Parham and Vaughn were spotted by a passerby at the Hometown Inn, located at 3554 Lee Jackson Highway near Greenville, and authorities were called to the scene, according to Augusta County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tim Martin. The men were wearing masks, gloves and dark clothing, an earlier report said.

Martin said Parham and Vaughn were casing a room at the motel because they mistakenly thought a man inside the room had $15,000 in cash and three pounds of methamphetamine. Parham was the first to enter the room, and he took the victim into the bathroom at gunpoint. Vaughn followed and ransacked the room. A woman was also in the motel room, Martin said.

Vaughn left the motel room and was waiting for Parham in a vehicle, and even began blowing the horn in an effort to get him to leave, Martin said.

Parham exited the motel room and got into the vehicle as a sheriff’s deputy was simultaneously arriving. The suspects passed the deputy and a pursuit was initiated. Their vehicle eventually crashed into a fence in the 700 block of Stuarts Draft Highway, where both Parham and Vaughn fled on foot.

Despite deputies canvassing the area for several hours with an Albemarle County Police Department K-9 unit and a Virginia State Police helicopter, the suspects remained at-large.

But after a reverse 911 call was put out to residents in the area, the sheriff’s office received word that Parham and Vaughn had been spotted on Guthrie Road in Stuarts Draft. Deputies and a state trooper arrived within minutes and took the two men into custody without incident.

Evidence showed $400 was stolen from the victim. No drugs were found on the suspects, Martin said. Video evidence that was eventually recovered also revealed the two men purchased masks from a Harrisonburg Walmart.

Parham’s guilty pleas on Aug. 10 in Augusta Circuit Court canceled a jury trial that had been scheduled for this week.

Vaughn, who also pleaded guilty to armed robbery and use of a firearm earlier this month, will be sentenced Oct. 19.

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Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.