Two men are facing charges after allegedly holding up two Dollar General stores in Richmond County on Saturday.
Investigators with the Rockingham Police Department say 18-year-old Jaylan Deshawn Smith, of Harlem Heights in Wadesboro and 19-year-old Terris McLendon, of Park Avenue in Rockingham, attempted to rob the Rockingham location on Fayetteville Road around 2:16 p.m.
A gun was presented but no money was taken and no one was harmed, investigators say.
By 4 p.m., the store was operating normally.
Several customers were turned away from the Ellerbe location as the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office investigated a robbery there.
The news had already started circulating on social media following the reported incident at the Rockingham location, but some customers — including Town Commissioner Jeremy McKenzie — hadn’t yet heard.
Investigators in that case say Smith entered the store and demanded money while McLendon was the driver of the vehicle.
According to the sheriff’s office, McLendon and Smith were arrested Sunday at McLendon’s address and are each charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon and one count each of robbery with a dangerous weapon, attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of a firearm by a felon and assault by pointing a gun.
They were booked into the Richmond County Jail each under a $500,000 secured bond and are scheduled to appear in court June 13.
Online court records show McLendon also has several traffic infractions in Mecklenburg County, including failure to wear a seat belt and driving with no operator’s license or insurance.
Records with the N.C. Department of Public Safety Division of Adult Correction show both McLendon and Smith have served time for crimes committed along the U.S. 74 corridor.
Smith was released from prison less than two months ago after his probation was revoked from a 2018 conviction of conspiracy to commit breaking and entering and larceny in Anson County and larceny from person in Richmond County, records show.
He was first convicted on a misdemeanor property damage charge in 2017.
McLendon has also been out less than two months after serving a three-month re-imprison violation.
He served nearly six months in 2018 after being convicted on two counts of receiving a stolen vehicle, and one count of breaking and entering in Mecklenburg County. During that time, he served a concurrent sentence for attempted larceny in Union County.
His first conviction was in Richmond County on two counts of receiving a stolen vehicle.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
The Dollar General in Hamlet was broken into early last Wednesday morning. The suspect, who appeared to be wearing an orange shirt over his head to conceal his identity, broke out multiple windows to gain entry before stealing cellphones, batteries and candy, according to the Hamlet Police Department.
Investigators in Rockingham say the Dollar General on E. Broad Avenue in Rockingham was also recently broken into.
According to an incident report, the suspect broke in around 2:30 a.m. May 25 using a blunt object and made off with a cellphone, 25 cigarillos and 60 packs of Newport cigarettes — a combined total of $320 in merchandise.
The crimes committed include breaking and entering, injury to real property and larceny after breaking and entering, however the report does not detail damage done to the property..
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