Lisa Marchesoni
Posted: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 1:56 pm

Lee Warren

Three men grabbed a 59-year-old store clerk and put a handgun to his body during a robbery about 1 a.m. Wednesday at a South Church Street store, Murfreesboro Police reported.

The robbery was one of three robberies committed Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, Murfreesboro Police reported.

Officer David Kelch reported three partially masked black men entered On the Run convenience store. The clerk reported the men grabbed him and placed a gun against him.

“The subjects then proceeded to take an undetermined amount of cash from the business before fleeing on foot,” Kelch reported.

Detectives are investigating.

In a related case, Officer Darrin Wilcox reported three robbers grabbed the Mapco store clerk about 3 a.m. outside the Memorial Boulevard store and forced him inside.

“They demanded money while threatening to shoot him,” Wilcox reported. “They took an undetermined amount of money from two registers. They demanded that the complainant open the safe but he could not.”

The robbers remained in the store about two more minutes before running toward a car wash.

They were described as three black men. One wore dark jeans, a dark hoodie and a white bandana. The second man wore a dark hoodie, dark pants and a dark bandana mask. The third robber wore a clown mask and white shirt with a colorful print.

Video obtained from nearby stores showed them leaving in a blue or black four-door car leaving the car wash nearby.

Police do not have suspects in the robbery. People who have information on them may call the Criminal Investigations Division at 893-2717 or Crime Stoppers at 893-STOP.

In an unrelated case, suspect Lee L. Warren, accused of robbing a 17-year-old girl about Tuesday afternoon at Kohl’s, was in custody 15 minutes later, thanks to sheriff’s Sgt. Lee Young.

Lyndsey Rundle was walking outside of Kohl’s when a man quickly walked up behind her and grabbed her wallet from under her left arm and ran, Officer Matt Stern reported.

“She ran after him and he struck her across the chest,” Stern reported. “Ms. Rundle stated she got up, grabbed his jacket and he struck her again. Ms. Rundle advised she got up again and he shoved her into a tree, dropped the wallet and took off running.”

Police recovered a white tennis shoe at nearby Kroger and collected it as evidence.

Dispatchers radioed the suspect information to other officers and sheriff’s deputies.

Sheriff’s Lt. Chris Haynes said Young was located at World Outreach Church on state Route 99 (New Salem Highway) and less than 15 minutes later saw a vehicle matching the one believed used as a getaway vehicle in the robbery.

“He did a felony stop on the vehicle,” Haynes said. “Four suspects were taken into custody. He did a good job.”

Murfreesboro Detective Mike Taylor reported he interviewed suspect Lee L. Warren, 24, of Lawrence Road, who gave a statement about his involvement in the robbery.

Taylor charged Warren with robbery and simple assault. His hearing is set May 12 in General Sessions Court. The other suspects were not charged.

In another arrest, patrol Officers Mark Moghaddam and Ryan Holobaugh noticed a man identified as Matthew D. Terrill appearing to be the same man who robbed CVS pharmacy of stock bottles of hydrocodone Feb. 16 on Southeast Broad Street.

Terrill was taken for an interview with Detective Paul Mongold who charged Terrill with aggravated robbery of the store. His hearing is pending in General Sessions Court.

Mongold credited Moghaddam and Holobaugh for matching Terrill to the store videotapes.