Man gets prison time for Circle K robbery, carjacking in New Hanover County

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A North Carolina man was sentenced on Tuesday to at least nine years in prison for his role in a Wilmington convenience store robbery and car-jacking that ended in a car crash at an elementary school.

According to court documents and other information presented in court, Cory Montan Dixon, 40, and Ronald Lee Croll wore masks on August 18, 2019 and robbed the Circle K gas station on Gordon Road in Wilmington.

Croll (sentenced earlier this year), showed a handgun, later determined to be a BB gun, pointed it at the head of the store clerk and demanded money. After the clerk handed over the cash drawer, the clerk was taken to a backroom to retrieve the keys to the clerk’s car. The clerk was then ordered to lay on the floor and an attempt was made to zip tie the clerk’s wrists together. The two men 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 attempted to stop them. The car sped away from officers through a residential neighborhood, eventually going off the road before crashing into a basketball hoop at Blair Elementary School. Dixon and Croll then ran away before being arrested. Officers recovered zip ties, cash, the BB gun, cigarettes, the cash drawer, and clothing worn during the robbery from the vehicle and along with a track from the two men.

G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Louise W. Flanagan. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, the Wilmington Police Department assisted in the response, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Stephany prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina implements the PSN Program through its Take Back North Carolina Initiative. This initiative emphasizes the regional assignment of federal prosecutors to work with law enforcement and District Attorney’s Offices on a sustained basis in those communities to reduce the violent crime rate, drug trafficking, and crimes against law enforcement.