Robbery tied to second heist in city
By Steve Herring
Published in News on July 20, 2010 1:46 PM
One man is in custody and two other suspects are being sought following two early Monday morning armed robberies, one in Goldsboro in which a clerk was shot, followed an hour later by one in Mount Olive.
The first robbery occurred around 1 a.m. at the Save More store, 1903 E. Ash St. A store clerk, Donald Person, was working when three black males wearing masks and bandanas entered the store. One of the suspects had a handgun and demanded money.
After removing the money from the register, the suspect with the handgun shot Person, striking him in the thigh. He then shot at a customer who was not injured.
The suspects fled the store on foot.
Person was treated and released at Wayne Memorial Hospital.
At 1:50 a.m., Mount Olive police responded to a robbery with a dangerous weapon at Handy Mart No. 2 on North Breazeale Avenue at N.C. 55. No one was injured in that incident.
Wayne County Sheriff's deputies responded in Mount Olive with two K-9 units and assisted in the apprehension of Kevin Sanders, no age or address listed.
Sanders was charged with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, and one count of resist delay and obstruct.
He was placed in the Wayne County Jail under a $550,000 bond. Warrants have been secured on Carletha Sanders for the same charges.
Other subjects of interest are being sought.
Mount Olive police Officer Jason Hughes was across the street from the business when the call was dispatched. Hughes had just finished making routine business checks and was headed to the south end of town when he decided to do one more sweep of the north end.
He had pulled into the Roses parking lot across the street from the Handy Mart when the call came in.
"He saw a car leaving the Handy Mart and thought that was unusual considering he had just gotten the alarm," Mount Olive police Maj. Brian Rhodes said. "He looked into the Handy Mart window and saw the clerk, whom we know, standing there and no one else in the store."
When Hughes realized the clerk appeared OK, he took off in pursuit of the suspects, Rhodes said.
As the vehicles were headed west on N.C. 55, two sheriff's deputies who were headed into town from the west pulled in behind Hughes near Bert Martin Road.
Now with backup, Hughes executed a felony stop as the vehicle pulled into the parking lot at the dental offices of Dr. Lane and Associates.
The suspects jumped out of the car. Two headed north and the third, Sanders, ran parallel along N.C. 55, with Hughes in foot pursuit.
The pursuit ended at Sloan Cabinet Shop when Sanders attempted to hide from Hughes by crawling under a service vehicle parked at the shop. Hughes waited for a deputy to arrive before attempting to remove the suspect from under the vehicle.
Rhodes said a handgun had been recovered, but that at the time of the interview Monday afternoon, added that did not know what caliber it was. He said he also did not have any details on if, or how much, money had been taken.
"I think everyone worked well together," Rhodes said. "Our guys did an outstanding job along with the Sheriff's Office and Highway Patrol."
Rhodes said he understood the investigation had widened to Wilson County. Officers in the Wilson County Sheriff's Office said they were following up on names to determine if the suspects live in Wilson County. The Mount Olive and Goldsboro robberies are not otherwise considered connected to Wilson County, they said.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 735-2255, the Mount Olive Police Department at 658-5031, Ext. 104, or the Goldsboro Police Depart-ment at 580-4242.