BLUEFIELD —
Local police were seeking an armed robber who struck at a second Bluefield business Monday night after his first crime yielded only $2.
Officers with the Bluefield Police Department were dispatched to Moni’s House of Tint Monday at 1000 Princeton Avenue after a robbery was reported.
Mercer County 911 received the call at approximately 5:30 p.m. A second armed robbery was reported 8:40 p.m. at the Gulf Express along Bluefield Avenue.
Police searched the area around the business with a tracking dog, Rocky, but a trail was not found.
Officer N.J.W. Allen said the dog found some scent at the business’s doorway, but getting a trail can be difficult when the direction a suspect took is unknown.
A short black male individual entered the business with a handgun, gave an employee a bag, and told her to put all the money in it, Allen said at the scene.
“All she had was $2 and he took off,” he said.
The amount of money that was stolen does not reduce the seriousness of the crime. In West Virginia, a person convicted of armed robbery can face not less than 10 years in prison, according to the West Virginia Code.
“It’s the same penalty if he got $20 million,” Allen said. “The same penalty. Armed robbery is armed robbery.”
A suspect matching the same description was reported more than two hours later at the Gulf Express. Allen said at the scene that several hundred dollars were stolen, and that no injuries were reported.
Police were continuing their search Monday evening.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Local News
Related Photos
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N.J.W Allen and his K-9 partner Rocky of the Bluefield City Police to work the scene of an armed robbery at Moni’s House of Tint at 1000 Princeton Avenue in Bluefield Monday evening. Staff photo by Eric DiNovo
Discussion
November 6, 2012
Police probe two armed robberies in Bluefield area
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