GREENWOOD, Del.- A 37-year-old man is facing robbery and related charges following accusations that he held up a Greenwood convenience store on Monday night.
Delaware State Police said the incident happened at around 7:37 p.m. at Al’s Country Store, located at 4937 Hickman Road. A store employee told troopers that a white male, wearing a black ski mask and black clothing, had entered the store with a handgun and demanded all of the money in the register. The victim complied with the suspect's demands and turned over an undisclosed amount of cash. The suspect fled the scene in a silver pickup truck with its tailgate down, which prevented the victim from seeing the registration plate, according to police.
Shortly thereafter, a traffic stop on a silver pickup truck with the tailgate down was conducted by the Bridgeville and Greenwood police departments. Police said the driver, identified as Thomas E. Mitchell of Greenwood, matched the description provided by the victim. Mitchell was subsequently taken into custody and a .25-caliber firearm and a loaded magazine was observed and removed from the front passengers seat of the vehicle, investigators said.
A subsequent search of Mitchell’s person yielded counterfeit money and a review of his vehicle revealed that he applied tape to the vehicle’s registration plate and model description alongside of the truck, police said.
Mitchell was transported to Troop 4 where he was charged with first-degree robbery, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, aggravated menacing, wearing a disguise during the commission of a felony, first-degree forgery, and failure to display a license plate. He was arraigned out of the Justice of the Peace Court 3 and committed to the Sussex Correctional Institution on $115,001 cash only bond.
