Suspect sought in armed robbery of gas station

November 24, 2005

Investigators at the Oneida Police Department are seeking a suspect who apparently robbed a local gas station at gunpoint last week.

In a daring robbery, a male individual walked into the Phillips 66 station, across Alberta Street from the Scott County Hospital, in broad daylight. Police Chief Mike Cross said the man entered the store at approximately 1:04 p.m. Wednesday afternoon while traffic on Alberta Street was heavy, wearing a ski mask and brandishing what appeared to be a 9mm handgun.

Cross said that OPD officers immediately set up a perimeter around the gas station, explaining that if a crime has already been committed and a suspect has left, his department doesn’t send every unit to the scene, but instead sets up an “outer perimeter” in an effort to catch the suspect as he makes his getaway.

Cross said that it “took us a while” to locate a witness who told officers that they witnessed a man exiting the station by climbing down a hill in back of the station and getting into a blue car.

Upon receiving information of the suspect’s direction of travel, Cross immediately ordered a lockdown at Oneida High School and Oneida Middle School, fearing the man would travel the short distance to the school campus.

A decision was made shortly thereafter to lock down Oneida Elementary School and Burchfield Elementary School as well. Cross said all the schools were in lock-down for less than one hour.

Cross said that the suspect escaped with approximately $900 in cash. Witnesses described the man as being between 5-10 and 6-0 and weighing 150-to-180 pounds.

The armed robbery was the second in Oneida in as many months. In September, the Oneida Dollar General Store was robbed at gunpoint.

Cross said that suspects appear to be “hitting places that do not have video surveillance equipment.”

The Oneida Police Department is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons responsible for either of the two recent robberies.

Ronnie Phillips is investigating the incident. Also assisting at the scene was OPD officer Darrell Laxton, Scott County Sheriff’s Department deputies Mike Wilson, Buck Gunter, Teddy Carson and Jason Carson, and Winfield Police Department Officer Brian King.

newsroom@ihoneida.com

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