A Burnsville man has been arrested and charged with attempted armed robbery of that city’s Dollar General Store.
Officers of the Sutton Detachment of the West Virginia State Police received a call from Braxton 9-1-1 on Thursday, January 9 at approximately 1:30 p.m. advising that an attempted robbery had occurred at Dollar General #248 on 5th Street in Burnsville.
When Cpl’s P.A. Huff and J.D. Jordan arrived on scene, just minutes after the incident was reported, they were told what happened by Assistant Store Manager Josiah Thompson. According to the incident report, a male subject entered the story and told the employee, “Give me $100 or I’ll cut your head off” all the while holding a hatchet which he placed on the counter. The subject also requested $10, both requests were denied by the employee.
Following the refusal of the employee to provide money, the subject shopped in the store and eventually paid for the selected items with a West Virginia EBT card. Thompson told the officers that the card did not cover the entire purchase and that the subject paid an additional 12 cents. The subject then exited the store leaving the hatchet behind.
The officers surveyed video camera surveillance which led them to interviewing a female from the area who unknowingly took the subject to the 79 Motel. Officers still had no positive identification of the individual. Cpl. Huff recovered a still photograph from the video and disseminated it to other law enforcement officers in the county. Captain B.A. Scarbro of the Braxton County Sheriff’s Department recognized the suspect, located and arrested him. Cpt. Scarbro took Randy Nathan Larch, 46, to the Sutton State Police Detachment to be interviewed by the investigating officers. During the interview, Larch admitted being in the Dollar General Store and ownership of the hatchet. Larch told Cpl. Huff that he did ask for $10, but not $100 nor did he threaten to cut off the employee’s head.
Larch was charged with 1st degree attempted armed robbery and taken to the Central Regional Jail. He was arraigned before Magistrate Beth Smith the following day where his bond was set at $10,000 cash only. Larch was returned to the CRJ to await additional court appearances in lieu of that bond.