Officials continue to chase leads after two men robbed a country store north of Charleston last week.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff William Brewer said they walked into Sherman Creek Grocery on Peters Hill Road — one through the front door and the other using a side entrance — shortly before 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14.
Wearing all-black clothing and gloves, and with “something in camouflage covering their faces,” according to Brewer, the men ordered the husband and wife owners to open the cash register and then to lie on the floor.
“The men were both armed with what’s believed to be handguns,” Brewer noted.
No one else was in the store at the time, the sheriff added.
“They took all of the contents of the cash register and a money bag that also contained cash and checks,” explained Brewer, who did not disclose the amount of money taken.
The men fled on foot, running west on Peters Hill Road toward nearby Highway 35, where it is believed a getaway vehicle was parked, the sheriff noted.
After a brief wait, the male owner of the store decided to pursue them in his own vehicle.
“He gave chase on Highway 35 North and on county blacktop and gravel roads,” Brewer said. “They finally lost him on Bethel Road, traveling toward Teasdale.”
The sheriff said lawmen retracing the path of the pursuit found the money bag and checks on a gravel road a few miles from the store.
“We also recovered some other items that are believed to be related to the robbery,” added Brewer, who declined to elaborate on the findings.
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Officials also are investigating what is believed to be the attempted armed robbery of Terry’s Club, a business located just north of the Charleston city limits on Teasdale Road.
Brewer said the female owner was closing at about 7 Friday night when someone knocked on the door. Believing it to be her ride, she opened the door.
“Two men were standing outside and tried to enter,” he noted. “As the owner was shoving the door closed, somehow a weapon one of them had was discharged. It’s not known whether it was accidental.”
The sheriff said a spent casing was recovered from the scene, but no bullet hole was found. The woman was not injured, he added.
“It’s believed the weapon was fired into the air,” he said.
After the owner managed to close and lock the door, the two subjects fled.
There were no eyewitnesses to the incident.
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Despite two males apparently being involved in both incidents, Brewer said it is not known whether the Sherman Creek Grocery heist and the attempted robbery are related.
“They might be related and they might not,” said the sheriff. “We’re investigating to see if we can find anything that connects them.”
Brewer urged local business owners to be vigilant.
“It’s that time of year,” he noted. “There’s some people who don’t have any money and they want to take it from someone else to buy themselves or others a gift.”
He also said businesses can request a law enforcement escort at closing time.
