Butcher knife used in heist:Malone arrested following police interrogation
His testimony saved three innocent men from prison five years ago, but now Ryan Malone faces a prison sentence himself for allegedly robbing Mapco Express Market Wednesday morning.
Malone, 24, is charged with aggravated robbery for a pre-dawn, knife-point robbery of the Beersheba Street convenience store. He was charged Thursday evening, following extensive questioning by lawmen, who say he is also a suspect in the knife-point robbery, last week, of the Shell Station on New Smithville Highway.
According to police, the man, believed to be Malone, walked into Mapco just before 5 a.m. Wednesday with a trash bag over his head to mask his identity. He then pulled a butcher knife and demanded access to the store’s cash drawer. The lone, female clerk obliged and the bandit took the money and left on foot, disappearing behind the store. The clerk was not hurt.
When lawmen arrived to answer the alarm minutes later, they found a trail of coins leading behind the store and up a hill toward Etter Street. Police say it is strange the robber would take coins since most robbers want only the cash because it is easier to carry.
The trail of coins was followed onto Etter Street where the knife and a sweat shirt were found. Local residents also said they saw the suspect fleeing the area in a silver car after he discarded the items.
Malone was called into questioning after officers viewed the robbery video. Malone had been arrested on drug charges here in recent years and was familiar to lawmen.
It was his alleged dealings with drugs which brought him to public attention back in 2000. On that occasion his 15 minutes of fame was on a somewhat positive note when he stepped forward to help three innocent men.
His involvement came after an off-duty Rutherford County correctional officer claimed three men had robbed him when he stopped to help them with their broken-down vehicle in the Old Smithville Road area. It was during a court hearing for the three men, Malone stepped forward to say it was he who had cheated the officer on a drug deal earlier in the evening and that he had sold the officer gravel claiming it was crack cocaine. After losing his money, the officer reportedly tried to blame the loss of his money on the innocent men to avoid his admitting being a part of a crack deal. The officer was ultimately convicted of perjury and spent 45 days in jail.
While helpful in achieving justice on that occasion, Malone could still face eight to 20 years for the Mapco robbery alone. Police will decide later if they will also charge him with the Shell robbery, in a case police say is very similar to the Mapco heist. Police have video footage of both heists.