A Roanoke Rapids man whose parole ended in July after serving prison time for a 2009 armed robbery was arrested after he allegedly robbed a Tenth Street convenience store and stole the cashier’s vehicle Wednesday night.
Roanoke Rapids police arrested and charged Phillip Bernard Brown, 43, with robbery with a dangerous weapon, larceny of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen goods and communicating threats in the robbery of the New Dixie Mart BP at the intersection of East Tenth Street and Park Avenue around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Chief Chuck Hasty said in a statement officers learned Brown entered the store and asked for cigarettes.
When the employee retrieved the cigarettes, Brown reportedly wielded a knife and demanded money. The clerk complied and Brown then demanded the keys to the employee’s vehicle and left the store heading west on Tenth Street.
North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers J.D. Warren and T. Blount located the vehicle at Family Dollar in South Rosemary. Troopers and officers spotted the man later identified as Brown in the area. He was taken into custody without trouble and jailed on $50,000 bond and assigned a January 17 court date.
“The sharing, relaying of information and the teamwork was key to getting Mr. Brown into custody very quickly,” Hasty said in the statement. “Roanoke Valley’s law enforcement works well and compliments each other very well. It was a great team effort.”
State Department of Public Safety records show Brown’s parole was terminated this past July after his conviction in 2011 for the principal crime of robbery with a dangerous weapon.
He was released from prison in October of 2016, DPS records show.
Other charges of assault with a deadly weapon and possession of stolen goods were consolidated for judgment in the 2009 crimes, records show.
Brown had been charged with accosting a 50-year-old woman in the downtown Food Lion parking lot and robbing her.
Assisting in the Wednesday night investigation were Lieutenant B. Norton, Sergeant M. Moseley, Investigator J. Benthal, Master Officer G. Colson, Officer S. Blythe, Officer C. Hagbourne and Officer H. Grimes with her dog, Jimi.