STARKVILLE — The Starkville Police Department arrested one man and two juveniles Sunday for an armed robbery earlier in the night on Highway 12, and are investigating their possible connection with an earlier store robbery.
At approximately 7:54 p.m., Oktibbeha County 911 received a call of a robbery in progress at New Lite Grocery, located at the corner of Highway 12 West and New Lite Road. With customers inside, two suspects entered the store armed with a shotgun and demanded money, according to a statement released by the SPD. The suspects” faces were covered by garbage bags as they took an undetermined amount of cash and fled on foot.
Officers responded immediately to the scene, canvassed the area and developed leads into the investigation, according to police. One suspect, who was armed with the shotgun, was described as a black male in blue jeans and a white hooded shirt. The second suspect, who grabbed the money from the cash registers, was described as a black male with a heavier build and dark clothing.
A short time later, police arrested 19-year-old Henry Lee Neal, of 114 Northside Drive, Starkville, and charged him with armed robbery. Police also arrested brothers Derrick Lewis Hill, 15, and Darius Lee Kennard Hill, 16, both of 104 Garrard Road E., Apt. 26, and charged the pair as adults with armed robbery due to the use of a weapon.
Investigators are looking at a possible connection between the New Lite Grocery robbery and the Nov. 27 hold-up of the Down the Hatch convenience store, located at the corner of Russell Street and Gillespie Street. During the Down the Hatch robbery, two men approached the store while a clerk stood outside. One of the men covered his face with a garbage bag and the other covered his face with a backpack, so the clerk ran across the street and called 911, according to police.
The suspects then took an undetermined amount of cash from the store and fled on foot. No arrests have been made in the Down the Hatch robbery, Starkville Police Department Lt. Mark Ballard said.
Anyone with information on the New Lite Grocery or Down the Hatch robberies can call Starkville police at 662-323-4131 or Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 1-800-530-7151.
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