Two men brandishing pistols robbed the Food City near Boyd’s Speedway late Sunday night after the store had closed.
According to police officials, a third party called 911 at 11:10 p.m. saying there was “an active shooter” at the Food City at 6723 Ringgold Road. Officers from the ERPD responded and set up a staging area at a nearby motel.
Officials said that police entered the building and “cleared” it, finding only two employees inside. According to a report, the manager and a second employee told officers that two men had entered the store. One went to the office where the manager was working. A second man encountered the Food City Employee in an aisle, threw him to the ground and dragged him back to the office.
The report states that the suspects told the manager and the employee that they wouldn’t be harmed if they cooperated with them. The robbers took an undetermined amount of money from several locations in the office. The report states that the robbers were unable to get into a safe that was equipped with a time-delay device.
After the manager crammed money from four tills into a sack, the robbers left the store in what was described as a black newer-model Ford F-150 pickup truck.
Officials said there is little information concerning a description of the suspects, outside of the fact that they are black males. Both men had black masks over their faces and were armed with pistols.
No injuries were reported during the incident.
_ Police arrested a man Sunday evening after he allegedly fired off several rounds from a handgun into trees behind a business on South Terrace.
Fred D. Craig, 69, of a South Smith Street Address, was charged with Reckless Endangerment. He is due to appear in East Ridge Municipal Court on October 4.
According to information from the ERPD, officers were dispatched to 482 McBrien Road on a shots fired complaint. According to dispatch, a white male was lingering near a Honda Accord and he was seen by the complainant firing shots near the entrance to At Home store. Officers arrived and located the Honda and found a man crouched behind the driver’s door with a firearm in his hand, the report states. As police began taking cover, Craig fired two shots into the tree line behind the store.
The report states that officers ordered Craig to drop the weapon, which he did. The man was taken into custody without incident, the report states.
The location of where the shots were being fired is a tree line with a residential street directly behind, the report states. Rounds were also fired at the entrance to the commercial building that was open for business with cars being driven in the immediate area.