Lexington police made an arrest late Monday afternoon after determining robbery was the motive for a shooting in a parking lot earlier in the day.

Cecil Allen Tatum, 24, was charged with first-degree robbery and possession of cocaine.

The victim, whose name was not released, was sent to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital in stable condition, authorities said. He was shot in the thigh at the Marathon station at 300 North Martin Luther King Boulevard about 1:50 p.m.

Witnesses told police two men in a white Chevrolet Malibu had some kind of dispute with the victim prior to the shooting, Lt. Roger Holland said. One of the men in the Malibu fired a handgun, hitting the victim in the leg, before the Malibu drove off.

Holland said he could not say what, if anything, was allegedly stolen from the victim. In Kentucky, first-degree robbery can be charged if the intent to commit a robbery motivates an act of violence, even if nothing is taken.

Less than an hour after the shooting, police found a Malibu matching the description about two miles away, on Florence Avenue between Price Road and Douglas Avenue. Police stopped the car and took Tatum and another man in for questioning. A gun was found in the car, Holland said.

Tatum was booked in the Fayette County jail Monday evening. The other person in the car was not charged in the shooting, but he was cited for a traffic offense, Holland said.

First-degree robbery is a class B felony punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.

Josh Kegley: (859) 231-3197. Twitter: @HLpublicsafety.