SPEEDY MART HELD-UP SUNDAY MORNING - Search Is On For Armed Robber

(01/01/2002)
By Bob Weaver

Police are looking for a six-foot male who robbed an Arnoldsburg convenience store early Sunday morning. The lone store clerk was held-up by a man dressed in camouflage clothing, using a .45 automatic pistol or stainless steel Beretta. Police said he had a two to three day beard growth and was wearing a camo baseball cap.

Sheriff Allen Parsons said the man, who may have not been alone, could also be a suspect in a convenience store hold-up a few hours later at Cabin Creek in Kanawha County.

State Police and authorities in neighboring counties commenced a search for the man minutes after the hold-up, said Parsons.

The Speedy Mart clerk told The Hur Herald the man entered the store at 1:40 a.m. "He went and got a pop and came to the check-out and asked for all the money out of the register," she said. He then asked for money from under the counter, but there was none. The clerk said she became extremely fearful, in what may be the first armed hold-up in the county in many years.

The robber, who did not wear a mask, was recorded on video tape.

He was driving a blue Geo Tracker, which may have driven away from the Spencer Go-Mart without paying for gas late Saturday night.

Sheriff Parsons said the hunt is in full-force. Any information regarding the suspect should be given to the West Virginia State Police.