Wilmington man gets more than six years in prison for robbery, carjacking

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Wilmington man was sentenced on Friday to more than six years in prison for his role in a convenience store robbery and car-jacking that ended in a car crash at an elementary school.

According to court documents, Ronald Lee Croll, 51, and a co-defendant donned masks in the early morning hours of August 18, 2019 and robbed the Circle K gas station on Gordon Road in Wilmington.

Croll showed a handgun, later determined to be a BB gun, pointed it at the head of the store clerk and demanded money. The clerk gave Croll the cash drawer and Croll demanded the clerk’s car keys. In a back room, Croll took the keys, ordered the clerk to lay on the floor and attempted to zip tie the clerk’s wrists together. Croll and his co-defendant then took the clerk’s car and took off with the cash drawer and a number of cigarette packs.

New Hanover County sheriff’s deputies spotted the vehicle on Market Street and began chasing them. The car tried to elude officers by speeding through a residential neighborhood, eventually going off the road before crashing into a basketball hoop at Blair Elementary School. Croll and his co-defendant then ran away before being apprehended.  Officers recovered zip ties, cash, the BB gun, cigarettes, the cash drawer, and clothing worn during the robbery from the vehicle and the flight path of the two men.

Croll was later interviewed and admitted his wrongdoings.