Hold Up at Local Break Time
*** UPDATE Thursday, Dec. 27, 8:06 P.M. *** Prosecutors charged Chadwick Simmons from Columbia, 22, late Thursday afternoon with first degree robbery. Police are looking to see if Simmons could be linked to any other unsolved robberies in Columbia through surveillance video. *** UPDATE 11:12 P.M. ***On Wednesday night Columbia police arrested a suspect after another gas station robbery in the city.This time the Break Time gas station off of Nebraska was held up just before 9:30 P.M. Police said the man first went into the store acting suspicious and went into the bathroom. At that point in time the clerk noticed the suspicious activity and asked all the customers to leave. Moments later the suspect came out and implied he had a gun and demanded money. After the robbery the suspect ran off headed West from the store.A Highway Patrol Trooper spotted the suspect nearby the Break Time. After a short chase on foot cops caught the man at Garth and Austin near the Burger King restaurant.ABC 17 News crews were at the scene of the arrest when the suspect was taken into custody by police. Currently law enforcement are looking into if the man is involved in any other robberies. “There is a detective coming out and he will make that determination, it’s possible… But that’s still to be determined,” said Sgt. Don Hawkins with the Columbia Police Department.Witnesses at the gas station also told ABC 17 News crews that the man taken into custody matched the description of the person they saw rob the store.*** ORIGINAL STORY ***Just before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Columbia police responded to reports of a robbery in progress at the Break Time convenience store at Providence Road and Nebraska Avenue. Police would not talk to ABC 17 News crews on the scene, but witnesses say a man wearing a red hooded sweatshirt entered the business and went behind the counter to confront the clerk. Incoming police units drove past the gas station and located a man matching the suspect description near the Business Loop, just west of Providence Road. Officers took the man into custody near the intersection of Garth Avenue and Austin Avenue.Check back with abc17news.com and ABC 17 News at 10 p.m. for the latest developments.
