THOMASVILLE — A fugitive wanted in a January 2016 Thomasville assault and robbery is behind bars in Thomas County after being arrested in Columbus.

Jonathan Bussey was one of two suspects involved in the January 2016 beating and robbery of two Thomasville men.

“These guys, the victims, were in a vehicle, stripped of their clothing and robbed at gunpoint,” Capt. Maurice Holmes, Thomasville Police Department Criminal Investigations Division commander, said.

About 9:15 p.m on Friday, Jan. 29, 2016, the victims were at a business in the 1000 block of West Jackson Street when they were approached by Bussey and Anthony Akery.

Bussey and Akery asked the victims for a ride to a relative’s house and were told to turn onto Crimson Circle.

“That was when one suspect cocked a weapon,” Holmes said.

The 2014 Toyota Camry in which the victims and suspects were traveling stopped in the 100 block of Crimson Circle.

“That is when they were pistol-whipped on the backs of their heads with a handgun,” Holmes said.

The victims were dragged from the car and told “to give it up,” or they would be killed.

The men were stripped to their underwear. Their gold jewelry, wallets and close to $1,000 in cash were taken. The victims were left on the side of the street.

The Camry was stolen by the assailants and found by police a short time later.

Akery, 32, of Barwick, was arrested Feb. 9, 2016, in the 500 block of Gordon Avenue.

Bussey, who has been arrested 17 times in Thomas County and was sentenced to prison in 2007, has been on the run for a year.

He was arrested in Columbus on Feb. 1 and is being held without bond in the Thomas County Jail.

“He’s got family in Columbus,” Holmes said. “We figured that’s where he’d run off to.”

The commander said Bussey posted a photograph of himself on social media wearing victims’ clothing he stole.

Bussey, 30, is charged with two counts of armed robbery, two counts of aggravated assault, hijacking a motor vehicle, receipt, possession or transfer of a firearm by a convicted felon and probation violation on a conviction of theft by receiving.

Among the offenses Bussey has been charged with in Thomas County are aggravated assault on a police officer, fleeing and attempting elude, marijuana possession and several probation violations.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820