Bond was set at $125,000 Wednesday for a Weir man suspected in a Tuesday morning hold-up on Highway 12.
Starkville Municipal Court Judge Rodney Faver set bond for 20-year-old Frank Emmanuel Potts III at $100,000 for one count of armed robbery and $25,000 for one count of possession of cocaine greater than 2 grams but less than 10 grams.
The charges against Potts stem from an incident at 7:55 a.m. Tuesday, when officers from the Starkville Police Department were dispatched to a report of an armed robbery at Moreland Inc., located at 448 Highway 12 W. The company provides check-cashing, Western Union and U-Haul services.
According to police, a male suspect entered the store with a handgun and demanded money. The owner of the business, Dan Moreland, was working the counter with his wife, he said when contacted Wednesday.
After taking an undisclosed amount of money, the suspect backed out of the store and fled on foot toward Whitfield Street. Moreland then grabbed his own gun, chased the suspect outside and fired a round in the man”s direction, he said. The shot missed, but police were on the way.
Responding officers searched the surrounding area and recovered evidence nearby, said SPD Detective Scotty Carrithers, although he would not disclose what evidence was found.
An off-duty officer traveling in the area then noticed a man fitting the suspect”s description entering a red car on Whitfield Street, according to the SPD. The car was identified as a newer model Chevrolet Monte Carlo and later was recovered unoccupied in the Wood Street area.
Further investigation led to a search warrant for the vehicle and, through the search, evidence of the suspect and the crime, according to the SPD. Through information obtained from the vehicle, police established Potts as a suspect.
With the assistance of the Choctaw County Sheriff”s Department, SPD investigators went to Potts” home in Weir Tuesday and he was arrested. Potts was transported back to the Starkville Police Department and then was held overnight in Clay County Jail as he awaited his appearance in Starkville Municipal Court Wednesday. Suspects arrested by the SPD are held in Clay County due to a lack of space at Oktibbeha County Jail.
Potts already is facing three possession of a controlled substance charges in Choctaw County, he told Faver. He was out on bond for those charges, he said.
Moreland commended local law enforcement officers for arresting a suspect the same day as the robbery and said the incident made him “more mad than scared.” He also admitted the experience was a bit nerve-wracking.
“Anybody would be nervous,” he said, “because you don”t know what they”re going to do when they”re sticking a gun in your face.”
Anyone with information about the robbery is encouraged to call the Starkville Bureau of Investigations at 662-324-4019 .
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