March 24, 2010: Village Pawn & Gun Shop was robbed by burglars smashing through a rear wall around midnight. Shop security cameras captured the burglars on video and Wadesboro Police began an investigation immediately. If you have any information on the burglary, call Wadesboro Police Department at 704-694-2167.

Update 10/22/2010: One of the five suspects under arrest is now facing federal charges and will be prosecuted in federal court. That suspect is the one whose face is seen in the video photos shown here from the gun shop's security system. The other four suspects will be tried in state courts for various charges related to the burglary at Village Pawn & Gun Shop.

Update 6/17/2010: All five suspects have now been arrested by Wadesboro Police in connection with a March 24 robbery at Village Pawn & Gun in Wadesboro, The Anson Record reported.

Cornelius Smith, 19, Patricia Felder, 30, and Kahalea Johnson, 22, all of Wadesboro, were arrested shortly after midnight March 30. All three face charges of felony breaking and entering and felony larceny of a firearm. Felder also faces one conspiracy charge. Smith is being held at the Anson County Jail on a $100,000 bond while the women are being held there on a $70,000 bond. The Wadesboro Police in early June arrested the final two suspects, Antonio Adams, of E. School Street, and Dexter Lindsey under similiar felony charges for each man, felony breaking and entering and felony larceny of a firearm. They are now being held in the Anson County Jail awaiting trial.

Village Pawn & Gun Shop owners wish to extend their thanks to Wadesboro Police for swift action in finding and charging all the suspects in the burgarly.

Owners stop armed robbery attempt at
Village Pawn & Gun Shop

William and Dorothy Griffin, AKA "Bob and Darlene"

It Happened To Me!

Sticking up a cop bar or a gun store has got to be two of the worst armed-robbery selection choices any hoodlums could make because it's certain both places will have armed people who will not be willing victims. But believe it or else, there are at least two hoodlums dumb enough to try to rob a gun store.

It happened recently at the gun store where I work when the senior two of the family of shop owners, Bob and Darlene (names changed of course), were there alone one Saturday night about 9 p.m.

Bob learned the hard way several years ago the important lesson about always being aware of what's going on around you. An armed robber got the drop on him and held him and Dorothy at gunpoint, at one point forcing them into the trunk of a car. Bob and Darlene survived that event and Bob has said since that no one will ever "get the drop" on him with a gun again. He said he used to think a .38 in his back pocket was sufficient but has since upgraded to a Glock .40S&W.

The gun store had been closed this recent Saturday as the crew was working at a gun show. Bob and Darlene returned to the shop after the gun show closed to load up some extra guns to take back to the gun show for the next day. Bob was unlocking and locking the door as he loaded boxes of guns in the back of his truck. The store was obviously closed at 9 p.m., but two hoodlums tried to barge in anyway.

As he went in and out of the door, locking it each time, Bob said he had noticed two males sitting on the hood of a car in a parking lot on the other side of the highway from the shop, watching him. Then as he put some more guns in the truck, he spotted them sprinting across the highway, circling behind his truck where they thought he wouldn't see them, heading for the door. He quickly went back inside but decided he didn't want to be caught fumbling with the keys as they arrived, so he left the door unlocked and retreated inside while drawing his Glock and turning to face the door. The two hoodlums opened the door and came in with the one in front not showing a gun, his hands raised in the air as he saw Bob with his Glock.

Our video surveillance system, which we played back the next day, showed the hoodlum behind the one in front started pulling his shirt front up and starting to draw a pistol from his waistband while hidden behind the one who came in first with empty hands raised. But the second hoodlum suddenly froze in mid-draw when Bob greeted the two with his Glock .40 and a few choice words. They suddenly decided they had urgent business elsewhere. They turned around quickly and left even faster than they arrived.

We told law enforcement about the incident the next day and provided them with a video recording of the attempted robbery. Law enforcement identified the pair as two local hoodlums, 18 and 19, who were out on bail after being charged with a home-invasion robbery in a nearby community. When we got a copy of the local newspaper with the pair's mug shots, Bob identified the two also. As I write this, the two have yet to come to trial for the home-invasion robbery and are still free.

Since that incident, Bob has upgraded his Glock .40 with a Crimson Trace Lasergrip and all of us who work at the gun store never work without being armed, some of us wearing a backup handgun as well as a main carry. Even Darlene, who hasn't been armed before, has been practicing with a Crimson Trace .38. And we're all a lot more vigilant than we were before.

Lawnmover Racing

Jonathan and Heidi Baggett are ready to go racing for Village Pawn & Gun Shop at the Ellerbe, NC, Lions Club Lawnmower Racing Track on Saturday nights.