Sheriff hinders robbery attempt

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ARMED MAN FLEES AFTER STAFFORD’S JETT DROPS IN AT DARKENED STORE

BY KEITH EPPS

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Stafford County Sheriff Charles Jett was on routine patrol early Saturday when he happened upon something that turned out not to be routine.

Sheriff’s spokesman Bill Kennedy said a young man had just threatened to use a gun on a 7–Eleven clerk when Jett pulled into the store parking lot at the corner of White Oak and Ferry roads in southern Stafford about 3:15 a.m.

The man had run off by the time Jett found out what had happened, but he was apprehended a short time later and charged with attempted robbery.

The sheriff doesn’t normally patrol the county, but Kennedy said Jett and all available law-enforcement officers were out late Friday and early Saturday as a result of the storm that knocked out power through much of the region.

Jett was driving on Ringgold Road when he saw a couple of vehicles and some people at the 7–Eleven across the street.

There was no power in that area, so Jett went to make sure everything was OK. A number of darkened businesses in the area were keeping employees on hand, in part to protect inventory from potential burglars or looters, Kennedy said.

At first it appeared that nothing was amiss at the 7–Eleven. But after the clerk opened the store door and Jett followed him in, he told the sheriff that he had just been threatened.

He said a passenger in one of the vehicles had walked up and said he wanted food. When told he couldn’t make a purchase because of the power outage, the man replied, “I have a gun. I’m going to get some food.”

Jett pulled in at that point, and the man and other bystanders began moving in the opposite direction.

After learning about the threat, Jett told the people in the car not to leave and had some of his deputies respond to the scene. By that time, the man who made the threat was gone. Police quickly got information leading to a home on Forbes Street.

Michael Andrew Humphries II, 20, of Spotsylvania County was taken into custody there without incident and placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

Keith Epps: 540/374-5404

kepps@freelancestar.com

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