Cedar Rapids man faces armed robbery charge

CEDAR RAPIDS - A Cedar Rapids man is accused of robbing another man at gunpoint.

The Linn County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of an armed robbery on North Center Point Road near Oliphant Cemetery in Center Point at 7:34 p.m. Saturday.

The victim, who is from Center Point, told police that he had asked two women and a man for a ride from a home in the 300 block of Ninth Street in Marion. Police said as the group approached Center Point, the man told the female driver to pull over. The man then ordered the victim out of the car and robbed him of $201 while holding a gun to the man's head, according to the Linn County Sheriff's Office.

A passer-by stopped, called 911 and provided aid to the victim, police said.

After an on-scene investigation, at attempt to locate was issued for a white or pearl-colored Cadillac occupied by a black man and two black women. Area law enforcement agencies were notified the robbery victim was initially picked up in Marion.

Police said the Marion Police Department stopped the suspect vehicle a short time later in the 4200 block of First Avenue East in Cedar Rapids. After the stop, 20-year-old Devonte D. Safforld was taken into custody on an unrelated warrant for simple assault. Police said after Safforld was taken into custody, some of the victim's belongings were found in the car, as well as the handgun believed to have been used in the robbery. Safforld was charged with first-degree robbery.

Safforld remains in custody in the Linn County Jail on a $25,250 cash bond.