Police investigate armed robbery, abduction at store
HOOKS, Texas—Local and area law enforcement officers are still looking for two suspects in connection with the July 28 robbery of an E-Z Mart convenience store on U.S. Highway 82.
The robbery occurred when two armed suspects, thought to be males wearing hoods, masks and gloves, parked their vehicle a short distance from the store at 2 a.m. July 28. They approached a male store clerk standing outside the building for a short break, Hooks Police Chief Keith Schutte said.
The suspects then forced the clerk back into the store, where they forced him to retrieve money from the cash register. At the same time, the clerk managed to activate an alarm that was relayed to police dispatch, Schutte said.
Just as the suspects exited the building, a police car approached, which led the suspects to abduct the clerk at gunpoint and force him into their car that was parked in an unseen area. The suspects, along with their hostage, then drove north as police approached.
Hooks police, who witnessed the clerk being abducted, notified other law enforcement agencies. They included the Bowie County Sheriff ’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety and the New Boston Police Department. There the officers attempted to seal off the area surrounding the store in an attempt to locate both suspects and the hostage.
During the area search, the store’s female manager arrived and told police that the clerk had a cellphone. A tower located the phone just south of Interstate 30 and North State Line Avenue. At that moment, the dispatch told police that they received a 911 call from the clerk notifying them that the suspects had just released him and had fled the Texarkana area in what appeared to be a white, fourdoor Buick LaCrosse with factory chrome wheels.
The clerk was taken back to the scene in Hooks, where he gave officers more information. The case is still under investigation.