09/10/09 — City hotel faces second robbery

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City hotel faces second robbery

By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on September 10, 2009 1:46 PM

The Holiday Inn Express on North Spence Avenue was robbed at gunpoint early this morning, the second time in this calendar year, police reports show.

The robbery occurred just before 1:30 a.m. when a black male reportedly entered the hotel and jumped over the counter, according to the report.

The hotel clerk, Fenice Coleman, 23, of Dudley, said the male, described as about 5 feet 8 inches tall, pointed a silver handgun at the right side of her body.

Ms. Coleman was not injured, according to the report.

Goldsboro police spokes-man Chad Calloway said the case was a priority for the department, but that officers had few leads so far.

Investigators were actively pursuing another case this morning, the spokesman said, but would soon focus their efforts on the robbery, Calloway said.

"At least from the report, we really don't have much of anything at this point," Calloway said. "Hopefully we'll be able to pull some video, but right now, I don't know."

Police did not say how much was taken from the hotel during the incident early this morning, describing the amount as "undetermined."

The North Spence Avenue facility has now been robbed twice since May, according to city police records.

The hotel also was robbed in May, when a black male entered the hotel using a security keypad combination.

The man, who has not been identified or arrested, fled out the east side door of the hotel and escaped in that incident, according to police reports.