Three arrested after armed robbery, vehicle arson in South Bend

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. - Three people were arrested in connection with an armed robbery and vehicle arson that took place in South Bend on October 27, according to court documents.

Terrion Atterberry, Breanna Willis and Ashley Wiggins were each charged with armed robbery, auto theft and resisting arrest.

Atterberry and Wiggins were also charged with arson, and Wiggins was charged with neglect of a dependent.

Late Friday night, officers with the South Bend Police Department were called to a home on College Avenue for a carjacking.

The victim at the scene told police his car had been stolen when he met up with a woman to complete an online sale.

When he got out of his car to complete the exchange, he was met by two men, one of whom was carrying a semiautomatic rifle.

One of the men aimed the rifle at the victim’s head, demanding he give them his possessions, while the other man and a woman searched his pockets, according to police reports.

The two men drove away with the victim’s vehicle as the woman walked away from the scene with a second woman.

Around an hour later, South Bend Police were called to a home on Roosevelt Street for an arson report.

At the scene, the victim told officers someone set her vehicle on fire, and she believed that person was Ashley Wiggins, as she’d recently been having issues with her.

Another officer on patrol near College Avenue spotted the first victim’s stolen vehicle pull into a garage in the area.

Once parked, three people got out, dressed in all black with black ski masks, and allegedly ignored the officer’s commands to stop. A fourth person soon joined them.

Eventually, three of the four alleged suspects ran into a home on College Avenue, while another ran from the scene.

The three refused to leave the home for a time before officers’ orders convinced them to exit, police said. With them were two children under the age of 10, who police later discovered were Wiggins’ children.

Inside the home, police found the item the first victim had sold to the woman. In the stolen vehicle, police found a rifle, officers said.

According to statements from the suspects, after the robbery, the three of them drove to Wiggins’ house in the stolen vehicle, picked up a gas can and then filled it at a gas station, court documents state.

Surveillance video confirmed Wiggins paid for and filled the can. After filling it, the vehicle is seen driving toward the second victim’s home.

Though Wiggins initially denied buying the gas, she confirmed she was involved after seeing the surveillance video, according to officers.

She and Willis then stayed in the stolen vehicle while Atterberry lit the second victim’s vehicle on fire, police said.

Wiggins’ children were at home alone while this was happening, according to police.