LUMBERTON — A Lumberton man has been charged with robbing a local convenience store, according to Robeson County Sheriff Kenneth Sealey.
Tommy Cornelius Shaw was arrested Wednesday after employees at the Minuteman Food Mart on N.C. 41 North, where Shaw had been a regular customer, were able to identify him, Sealey said.
According to Sealey, Shaw often went into the store and employees there recognized him and knew what kind of car he drove, but did not know his name. They were able to help Lt. Mark McMillian and Sgt. Butch Howell identify him. Sealey said the Sheriff’s Office also received numerous calls about the robbery after a surveillance image of Shaw was published in The Robesonian and circulated online.
Shaw, 30, of Owen Drive, was charged with robbery with a firearm and kidnapping.
The robbery occurred July 16 at about 3:15 p.m. According to an incident report, a man came into the store, picked up a pack of chewing gum and went to the counter to pay. When the cashier opened the cash drawer, the man pulled out a gun with a bag over it and demanded money. One witness, who was sitting at a booth in the store, said the man told him “that he better stay in his seat if he didn’t want to be shot,” the report says.
With cash in hand, the man left the store, got into a black Toyota Camry and drove toward Bladen County.
Shaw was jailed at the Robeson County Detention Center under a $55,000 bond.
