Benton PD: Apologizing “Venom” Robs Benton Gas Station at Knife Point

A store in Benton was robbed at knifepoint on Tuesday, according to the Benton Police Department. Surveillance video from the Big Red Store at Congo Road and Shenandoah Road appears to show a man dressed in a hoodie with “Venom” logo and eye holes, holding a knife to an employee’s back, as the employee opened the cash register. The suspect escaped with money from the register.

The police report states that the suspect is described as a white male, with the “Venom” hoodie zipped over his face with white mesh eye holes and some blond hair sticking out of the top. According to the report, the store employee said the suspect kept saying “I’m sorry.”

Updates to come, and hopefully we’ll get video or a screen capture. The following is the narrative from the officer, except for name changes:

On 10/09/2018 at approximately 12:39 AM, I responded to Big Red at 2908 Congo Road in reference to a robbery that had just occurred. Upon my arrival, I made contact with NAME WITHHELD, the employee working at the time of the robbery.

EMPLOYEE was not harmed, and he told us the suspect took a right hand turn, heading south, out of the store and fled on foot. EMPLOYEE said he lost sight of the suspect after he ran out of the store. The suspect was described as being a white male wearing a black zip up hoodie with a white spider known as the “Venom” comic on the front. EMPLOYEE said the hooded part of the sweatshirt zipped all the way up over the face, and it had white mesh eye holes. The very top of the hoodie was open, displaying a small patch of blond hair sticking out of the top. The suspect was not wearing gloves so EMPLOYEE said he was able to tell it was a white male.

The above is an example of the type of hoodie described in the police report. This picture is not part of evidence.

EMPLOYEE said he had just brought cinnamon roll dough to the front of the store for the evening, when he saw the male subject. EMPLOYEE said that lots of people come into the store with hoodies, and he did not think anything of it. EMPLOYEE told me he walked to the back of the store again and when he turned around the suspect was standing behind him, holding a knife. The suspect told EMPLOYEE to walk to the cash register and open it. EMPLOYEE did so, and the suspect took all the cash out of the drawer, which was later totaled to be $172.28. After taking the money, the suspect ran out of the store and EMPLOYEE lost sight of him. EMPLOYEE said the suspect was very polite as he apologized by saying “I’m sorry” continuously.

OFFICER1 set up crime scene tape across the door, and OFFICER2 started a crime scene log.

Units checked the area, but could not find any sight of the suspect.

DETECTIVE1 responded and assumed the investigation. EMPLOYEE made contact with his manager, who responded and was able to show DETECTIVE1 security footage of the incident.

The video showed the suspect walk from the east side of the store and enter the store from the main entrance (south side) of the building and the suspect already had the hoodie over his face. The suspect went directly to the cash register and as he started to try and open it, it appeared that he was startled and he then went to EMPLOYEE’s location. The video then showed the suspect standing behind EMPLOYEE, with a knife in his hand and when EMPLOYEE turned around, it appeared as if the two exchanged words. EMPLOYEE then went to the register and after he opened it, the suspect took the money from the register. It looked as if the suspect used the sleeve of his hoodie to take the drawer out of the register and the suspect tried to wipe off his prints with the sleeve of his hoodie. The video then showed the suspect leave out the front doors and exit to the left then suddenly he turned around and headed south.