Armed robbery at Fatbacks

20-year-old male in custody

By Frank Bradley

Sentinel writer

MURPHY–He came. He robbed. He got away.

But not for long. Within an hour, the Murphy Police had him in custody,having arrested him in his underwear at West Motel.

His rifle was leaned up against the wall. Stolen lottery tickets were on the floor, and cash was stashed in his bible.

The robbery occurred between 6:15 and 6:20 a.m. on Wednesday at Fatback’s Citgo station across from McDonalds.

Larry Cannan, the store clerk who is also a retired police officer, had just come on duty. There was not much cash in the register. Two ladies, who are county 911 employees, were sitting in a booth drinking coffee. They saw him sitting in his dark-green 1/2 ton GM pickup truck and observed when he got out that he had a rifle under his coat. One of them said, “We’re fixing to be robbed.”

He came in the store dressed in light-colored blue jeans, wearing an overcoat, a blue hoodie and a face mask. He showed the rifle to Cannan and said, “Give me all your money.” Cannan said the robber had his finger on the trigger, although he never put the muzzle in Cannan’s face or pointed the gun at him. The robber was given the cash, which was slightly more that $100. Then he asked for $10 lottery tickets. Told there weren’t any, he said, “Then give me the $5 ones.” Cannan stalled, taking his time pulling out the tickets, after getting about a dozen tickets, the robber grabbed them, apologized several times for doing the robbery. He then wished Cannan a Merry Christmas, and left the store headed west on US. #64 towards Tennessee.

The sheriff’s office, Murphy police and surrounding law enforcement officers where quickly notified.

Murphy police officer Sam Allen driving by West Motel observed a vehicle that matched the description of the one driven by the robber. He called for backup. The officer’s knocked on his motel door. He told them he had been sleeping; however they spotted several pieces of evidence. He was arrested at 7:18 a.m. and taken to the county jail for questioning.

The alleged suspect was identified at Timothy Jake Holder, a white-male with a date of birth of September 30, 1991. Charges had yet to be filed as the Sentinel went to press.

Jonathan Dickey, the store owner, said this was the first time the store has been robbed in the 14 years he has been there. He commended the police and the sheriff for their rapid and professional response in pursuing the robbery and making the arrest.