Final two defendants in 2013 Bottoms Bridge McDonald’s robbery sentenced

London Cotman (left) will serve a four-year prison sentence while Shatik Jackson (right) will serve 30 years incarcerated in the federal system as the result of a 2013 armed robbery of the Bottoms Bridge McDonald's in the Quinton area of New Kent.

The alleged mastermind behind several 2013 armed robberies of restaurants in the Richmond metro area, including the Bottoms Bridge McDonald’s in New Kent, will serve 30 years in a federal prison.

Shatik U. Jackson, 21, of the 300 block of Shetland Court, Henrico, received the time as part of an October plea deal in federal court, with formal sentencing being announced in December. The driver of the getaway car for the New Kent armed robbery, London Shi-Anne Cotman, 20, of the 200 block of N. Airport Drive, Highland Springs, received a four-year prison sentence during the same proceedings as part of a plea agreement.

In August 2013, two masked individuals entered the Bottoms Bridge McDonald’s shortly before 3 a.m., armed with handguns. Later identified as Robert James Priester, 17, of the 2200 block of Kingsbrook Drive, Henrico, and Cornelius E. Clayton Jr., 20, of the 600 block of Fritz Street, Henrico, the two robbed cash registers and forced employees to the back of the store, locking them in the manager’s office. The duo escaped with $5,000 in cash before meeting up with Jackson and Cotman.

During the investigation, detectives received a warrant to track cell phone activity from the early morning robbery in an effort to compare any of the numbers to similar happenings in the area. Numbers discovered were a match, tracing back to calls between Priester’s phone and Cotman’s grandmother’s phone. The suspects were subsequently monitored before being arrested in Dinwiddie County when allegedly trying to commit another burglary.

The robbery of the Bottoms Bridge McDonald’s was just one of many conducted by the defendants, who admitted robbing several other fast food restaurants in the areas of Richmond, Chesterfield, Petersburg, and Dinwiddie. Clayton, Cotman, and Jackson were indicted in federal court on multiple charges, while Priester received indictments from the aforementioned localities, including New Kent.

Jackson and Cotman were the final suspects in the New Kent robberies to receive formal sentencing. Jackson was deemed the mastermind who orchestrated the crimes, including timing precisely when each location would have minimum staff numbers. Cotman, who was Jackson’s girlfriend, was involved only in the New Kent robbery according to investigative reports.

In July 2014, Clayton accepted a plea deal in federal proceedings and was formally sentenced to 34 years in prison. Priester received three years in the state’s juvenile justice system stemming from his New Kent conviction during sentencing last October. However, he received an additional 15 years from other jurisdictions to serve consecutively in the prison system, giving him a total of 18 years to serve.