By Dave Foster
The Virginian-Pilot
SUFFOLK, Va. — A citizen helped a police officer thwart a robbery early Sunday at a restaurant, police said today.
Officer T.A. Smith was on patrol just after midnight Sunday when a citizen stopped him and told him about a masked man at the Feather-N-Fin restaurant in the 700 block of E. Washington St., said Lt. D.J. George, a department spokeswoman.
When Smith approached the business, he heard a man telling the clerk to give him the money or he would “pop all of you,” George said.
Smith ordered the man, who was wearing a plastic bag over his head, to surrender. The suspect ignored him and tried to run, so Smith used his Taser to bring him to the ground, George said.
Police learned that the suspect had already robbed a juvenile customer, whose money was recovered, George said. No weapon was found, she said.
The suspect, Larry D. Jones, 30, of North Carolina, was charged with two counts of armed robbery and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
He suffered a cut on his head when he struck the ground and was treated at Sentara Obici Hospital for his injury, George said.
Copyright 2008 The Virginian-Pilot