Area area law-enforcement agencies are asking for the public’s help in finding the person believed to be responsible for several Sunday morning robberies in Hinesville, Claxton, Bryan County and Flemington.
The Handyland Exxon service station on E.G. Miles Parkway in Hinesville was robbed at about 2:30 a.m. According to an incident report filed by Hinesville Police Officer Christopher Akers, a man with a thick blonde mustache who was wearing a white hoody and sunglasses came in and used the restroom. A clerk said that when he exited the facility, she heard a weapon being racked. The clerk told Akers the man pointed the gun at her and demanded money, lottery tickets and five cartons of Newport cigarettes.
As he exited the store, the gunman reportedly told the clerk, "I don’t want to see you here anymore. Give me 15 minutes."
Bryan County Sheriff’s Office Detective Donnie Thomas said he learned an Evans County Shell gas station also was robbed early Sunday morning, shortly after the Exxon was hit. In that incident, a suspect demanded cash, but the clerk pulled a gun on him. The suspect ran from the store and discharged his weapon once.
After that, at around 4:40 a.m., a man with a gun robbed Parker’s on Highways 80 and 280 near Ellabell.
Bryan County Sheriff’s Office Detective Donnie Thomas said a man entered the store and used the restroom before approaching the clerk and brandishing a handgun. He demanded money, and the clerk handed $200 to the gunman, who reportedly also asked for lottery tickets and two cartons of Newport cigarettes. The man then left the store and took off in the direction of Highway 80.
Thomas said there may not be a connection, but several minutes before the gunman entered the store, a different man, who was sporting a shaved head and white T-shirt, entered the store and bought two cigars. That man, who was driving either a white Chevy Tahoe or GMC SUV, can be seen driving off on security footage, but he later returned to the front of the store on Highway 280.
The clerk from the Ellabell store, who was shown surveillance footage, told Thomas that the suspect from the Liberty County robbery was the same man she had seen.
In addition, Maj. Mike Albritton of the Richmond Hill Police Department said a man matching the robbery suspect’s description tried to hold up a clerk at the Love’s Travel Stop on Highway 144 East. Albritton said the suspect demanded money, but the clerk refused, so the suspect left the store.
At around 5:45 a.m., a man entered the Parker’s service station at the intersection of East Oglethorpe Highway and Old Sunbury Road and showed one of the two clerks on duty a handgun before demanding cash, according to Liberty County Sheriff’s Office Detective Chris Reed. The clerk handed over an undisclosed amount of cash and fled.
No one was injured during the robberies.
The suspect is described as a white man wearing gray sweatpants and a heavy black overcoat with a fur-trimmed hood. He has blonde hair and a mustache.
Anyone who recognizes the individual in the photo or has information pertaining to his whereabouts should call Reed at 876-4555 or 368-3911.