Fort Smith police say the man they arrested Monday in an armed gas station robbery also robbed a local Payless Shoe Source with an airsoft rifle.
Larry James Martin, 19, was arrested Monday on suspicion of aggravated robbery. Another potential charge of aggravated robbery was added to Martin on Tuesday, according to the Fort Smith Police Department.
Martin remained Tuesday in the Sebastian County Detention Center on $20,000 bond for one of the potential aggravated robbery charges. No bond has been set for the second potential charge, according to the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office.
Police responded Monday morning at 9:03 p.m. to the Jenny Lind Mart on Jenny Lind Road in reference to an aggravated robbery. The store’s clerk told officers a black male came into the gas station with a pistol and told the clerk to give him all of the money in the register, according to Fort Smith police.
The suspect later fled north from the store.
Police arrested Martin the same day in connection with the gas station robbery, but did not connect the suspect to a separate robbery at a Payless Shoe Source store until Tuesday. Authorities searched Martin’s home on Osage Street and found an airsoft pistol, clothing and other items they said link Martin to both robberies.
An airsoft gun shoots non-lethal pellets, similar to a BB gun.
Officers responded Sunday at 12:30 p.m. to the Payless Shoe Source on Zero Street in reference to an aggravated robbery. A store clerk told officers a black male came into the store with a black semi-automatic handgun and forced the employee to open a safe. The suspect took the cash and fled from the store, police said.
An eyewitness also reported seeing a black male running west from the area of the Payless and getting into a maroon vehicle, according to Fort Smith police.
