WILMINGTON — An armed robbery of a convenience store ended with the clerk’s stolen vehicle crashing into a basketball hoop in a nearby neighborhood.
Two men were arrested in connection to an armed robbery of a Circle K gas station on Gordon Road, one block west of Market Street.
Around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning, Ronald Lee Croll, 50, and Cory Montan Dixon, 39, allegedly entered the convenience store. Croll walked up to the clerk and brandished a firearm while demanding money from the cash register, according to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office (NHCSO).
“After receiving money the two robbers forced the clerk into the back room where they restrained her. The robbers then took the clerk’s keys to her vehicle and fled the scene,” according to a release on Sunday evening.
NHSO patrol and K-9 units were in the area on an unrelated traffic stop when the call came in, according to the release. Deputies saw the clerk’s vehicle turn onto Blair School Road before colliding with a basketball steel pole stand in a grassy area across Noble Middle School, causing significant damage to the front of the vehicle.
“The suspects then jumped and ran,” the release stated.
A perimeter was secured by units from NHCSO, Wilmington Police Department (WPD) and UNCW. NHCSO K9 located one suspect while WPD K9 located the other.
Each suspect was hit with a $500,000 secure bond.
