Armed robber strikes Statham store

The employee was eventually able to open the drawer and handed over approximately $1,000. The gunman then fled the store. There were no customers in the store at the time of the robbery.

Trotter said the female employees were unhurt, but shaken by the ordeal.

“They are really scared and worried about coming back to work,” Trotter said.

Statham Police Chief Steve Martin said officers worked on the case well into the early morning hours and that the incident remains under investigation. Martin said the incident was captured on video surveillance and investigators plan on gathering footage from a nearby business in hopes of obtaining an image of the gunman’s vehicle.

“We’re hopeful [the footage] will provide some good information,” Martin said.

Though store employees did not see the gunman get into a vehicle, Martin said tire tracks found nearby indicate the gunman may have left the scene by car.

The gunman is described as a light skinned black male approximately 5’ 5” to 5’ 7” tall wearing black clothing, a black doo rag, a blue bandana and sunglasses.

The Piggly Wiggly robbery is the third robbery in Statham in the past three months, Martin said. At this point, evidence does not suggest that the robberies have been committed by the same person.

“The description of all three suspects is different enough to make us believe it is not the same person,” Martin said.

Anyone with information regarding the robbery should contact the Statham Police Department at 770-725-5992.