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Good Samaritans Provide Excellent
Leads
An armed robber entered Grace’s Kwik Stop at
5865 Main Street in McLemoresville Wednesday
and left the store with an undetermined
amount of cash from the register. A robbery
with many similarities occurred at just four
weeks prior on a Wednesday afternoon at
Libby’s in Trezevant.
A Jackson man the Madison County Sheriff’s
Office arrested in connection with a robbery
Saturday night is a suspect in the Carroll
County robberies, according to Madison
County authorities. Bryan P. Jordan, 30,
faces charges of aggravated robbery and
theft of property under $500 in connection
with Saturday’s robbery at the BP Service
Station and Convenience Store at 2059 US 70
East in Madison County. Carroll County has a
hold for the suspect for questioning in the
local robberies.
According to officials at Carroll County
Sheriff’s Department, a 911 call was
received at 4:05 p.m. from Valerie Spaht, a
clerk at the store. She stated that a white
male, approximately 5 feet, 7 inches to 5
feet, 9 inches in height, wearing khaki
pants, black shirt and a tan cap entered the
store, displayed a gun, and demanded money.
The man is believed to be in his 20s or
early 30s.
 Owner
Grace Stone, who was not at the store when
the robbery occurred, said following the
incident at Libby’s store, she had moved
video cameras to eye level at various
locations in the store. “The videos caught
everything while he was in the store. We
could see him coming in and going out,” she
said. The lone male entered the store and
walked to the back of the building probably
in an effort to make sure no other customers
where in the store. He then approached the
cashier’s counter and asked for a certain
brand of cigarettes in a flip-top box. After
searching an overhead counter for the
cigarettes, the clerk stated that she did
not have that particular kind of cigarettes.
The robber then produced a weapon, pointed
it at the clerk, and said, “Well never mind,
just give me all your money.”
Grace explained the clerk was in the process
of obtaining readings from the tape on her
cash drawer and had placed the register in a
“x-mode,” during which the drawer will not
open. Because of the tenseness of the
situation, it took her a little longer to
reactivate and open the register.
“He grabbed the money from the cash drawer,
dropping some of it, and threw the checks
down on the counter. He didn’t want those,”
said Grace.
“He told her (Valerie) to lie down on the
floor and not get up until he was gone,”
said Grace. He then ran from the store.
However, the assailant likely did not
anticipate the “neighborhood watch” loyalty
that exists in many small towns.
Several persons were near the front of the
store, one person was pumping gas and others
were standing in front of Blow’s Gun Shop,
which is next door to Grace’s Kwik Stop.
Witnesses there reportedly got a good look
at the assailant.
Harold Blow and his wife, owners of the gun
shop, reside in a house located behind the
store and saw the man as he ran to the back
of the convenience store.
“My wife was the one who noticed that he was
running from the store and said, “I bet he
just robbed the store.”
“We also noticed that as he was running, he
pulled an outer garment over his head,
revealing a red shirt underneath,” he said.
Although they had no confirmation at the
time the store had been robbed, Blow saw the
vehicle turn south on Park Street and
decided to get in his vehicle and follow the
suspect, hoping to get a look at the man and
a better description of the truck. The
vehicle was described as being a tan or
beige pickup truck.
The vehicle headed toward Trezevant, with
Blow following behind.
“I didn’t get close enough to get a complete
license, but I did get a partial when he
stopped at the four-way stop in Trezevant,”
he said. The license number is possibly
KBN910 or KVN910. The vehicle was last seen
heading west on Highway 105 toward Bradford.
Larry Elliott, who owns Elliott Sign &
Design across the street from Grace’s, said
he and his wife, Kay, had been working on a
project in Camden the afternoon of the
robbery.
“When we drove into town, there were a lot
of people standing in the parking lot, along
with a patrol car,” he said.
When asked if he had increased security
measures at the store since the robbery, he
replied, “I just loaded my shotgun.”
Mary Scates, owner of Happy Times Day Care,
which is also next door to Grace’s said they
locked the doors of the day care upon
learning of the robbery. The center cares
for 35 children each day and approximately
20 children were still at the day care when
the robbery occurred.
“We notified parents of the robbery and told
them the doors would be locked when they
came to pick up their children,” said Mary.
The doors were locked back as each child was
picked up.
Anyone with information concerning this
incident is asked to call the Carroll County
Sheriff’s Department at 731-986-8947 or
Carroll County Crime Stopper at
731-986-8228. |
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