STANTON — A 24-year-old man remained in jail late Thursday after he was arrested when he locked his keys in his vehicle and had to flee on foot after robbing the Stanton Drug Store with what was later found to be a caulking gun.
John Wilkinson, 24, of Big Spring entered the Stanton Drug Store in the 200 block of St. Anna Street just before 12:35 p.m. Thursday yelling at customers to get down and demanding Zanax and hydrocodine from the pharmacist, Stanton Police Chief Mike Adams said.
Wilkinson was carrying what appeared to be a gun wrapped in a dark cloth and ran out the front door after taking the drugs, Adams said. However, when Wilkinson reached his car that was parked and running in front of the drug store, he realized he’d locked the keys inside and was forced to flee the scene on foot instead.
Police located Wilkinson between buildings in the 100 block of North St. Joseph Street just before 1 p.m., Adams said. During the pursuit police shot Wilkinson in the top of the shoulder when they thought they were in danger because of what appeared to be a weapon in Wilkinson’s hand, though when police unwrapped the weapon they realized it was merely a caulking gun.
The shoulder injury didn’t require stitches, and Wilkinson was treated and released from Midland Memorial Hospital where he was taken into custody on a charge of armed robbery.
Anytime a suspect commits a robbery proclaiming to have a weapon they will be charged with armed robbery even if it’s later found they didn’t have a weapon with them, Adams said.
Wilkinson was being held in the Martin County Jail late Thursday. His bond had not yet been set.
Only when the best will suffice.
