Police: Man, teen knock out lights, rob store

LAKE CITY, Fla. – A man and a 15-year-old boy suspected of holding up the Dollar General Store on East Duval Street in Lake City Wednesday evening were arrested after police tracked the store clerk's stolen cellphone to the home of one of the suspects, according to the Lake City Police Department.

Police said that from evidence, witness interviews and a review of surveillance video, two men entered the store three times and left without buying anything. Just before closing time, one of the men came in again, asked to use the restroom. While he was in the bathroom, the store's lights went out, which was later discovered to be a result of the second man tampering with wiring outside the store.

"They came in and they left. They came in and they left. And at one point one of the guys comes back in and he's wearing different clothes. A hoodie with a big logo on it. He asked the clerk if he could use the restroom," Mike Lee, with the Lake City Police Department, said. 

The first man came out of the bathroom wearing a silver mask and pulled a handgun as he ran toward the two clerks standing by the front door. 

The clerks ran from the store but were chased by the man. When he caught up to one clerk, police said he put his gun to her head and forced her to return into the store and open the safe. He stole about $500 and her cellphone before running from the store.

The clerk whose phone was stolen activated a feature on that phone to track its location. Lake City officer located the phone in a wooded area across the street form 269 NE Webster Avenue. Investigators knocked on the door to the residence and spoke with the homeowner, whose grandson, Calvin Souter, 15, and his visiting friend, Deondre Clayton, 20, matched the description of the two robbers.

The officers obtained permission to enter the home and found a black pellet gun similar to the one used in the robbery next to a backpack matching the one worn by the robber. It was identified as belonging to Clayton. Inside the backpack, there was a black hoodie with the same emblem seen on the video footage from the store, as well as the silver mask worn during the robbery.

Investigators said phone records showed that Souter had called Clayton the same minute that the store's power was disconnected.

Police said the pair were interviewed and admitted to committing the robbery. According to Souter, he used the pellet gun as if it were a firearm and said Clayton had given him the gun. Police said the victim positively identified the two subjects as being in the store, and Souter as the one who robbed her.

The two were arrested and transported to the Columbia County Jail, where Clayton was held on a $120,000 bond. Souter was placed in the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and was being held at the DJJ Detention Facility in Gainesville. Both face charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, kidnapping, robbery with a firearm, and grand theft.  

News4Jax Crime and Safety Analyst Gil Smith said this is a lesson for workers at any store. If you see someone just hanging out in your business, especially more than once, that should be a warning.

"After the second time someone comes in for a long period of time and doesn't buy anything, or buys something simple like a candy bar, they should probably notify police, because maybe he was hoping for fewer customers in the store or maybe he was just trying to get up the nerve to commit the robbery. So I would advise to contact police if they do that," Smith said. 


About the Author:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.