Quick cash store robbed again: Suspect apprehended after 2-day manhunt

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

A McMinnville police cruiser is parked outside McMinnville Title Loans on Chancery Street after the business was robbed by a lone gunman Friday afternoon. (Duane Sherrill photo)

The manhunt ended Saturday for an armed fugitive who allegedly robbed McMinnville Title Loans on Chancery Street Friday afternoon and then fled into the wilderness behind his cabin on Harrison Ferry Mountain.

The suspect, Vinkey Terry, 56, was taken into custody Saturday afternoon for the daring daylight heist of the loan company located across the street from Bobby Ray Elementary. He is charged with the crime of aggravated robbery which carries eight to 12 years in prison.

The robbery was the second heist of the business in just over six months and also marked the second time a customer of the loan company is suspected as the culprit.

According to McMinnville Police Captain Bryan Denton, Terry is believed to be the lone gunman who walked into the business early Friday afternoon. The suspect pulled a camoflauge mask over his face and displayed a pistol when he entered, demanding the money. Due to the fact he had done business with the institution in the past, Terry reportedly knew where the money was kept.

After forcing the manager into a back room and grabbing the money from the cashier station, Terry fled with an undisclosed amount of money and drove away in his vehicle. The manager bolted from the room just seconds after the gunman left the building and was able to get his license tag number as he drove away.

Armed with tag number and a description, lawmen soon tracked him to his cabin on Harrison Ferry Mountain in Van Buren County. However, the suspect had fled the area before officers arrived, leaving behind his vehicle and some evidence which reportedly linked him to the robbery.

Also found near the residence was evidence of an alleged meth lab. Charges are pending in relation to the lab.

Believing Terry had fled into the remote wilderness of Harrison Ferry Mountain on foot, county and city lawmen mounted a large-scale manhunt for him. Officers aboard four-wheelers scanned the trails across the mountain while the sheriff’s department helicopter conducted aerial observation, all to no avail Friday afternoon.

The robbery comes just two weeks after Christopher Mendoza was sentenced to eight years in prison for robbing the loan company in December. Mendoza along with co-defendant, Chris Markey, who is awaiting trial, were arrested moments after their heist after they were followed from the scene by officers in an unmarked car.