Former employee, man arrested in Dollar General armed robbery

WHITEVILLE, NC (WWAY) — Two men accused of stealing cash and more than 150 packs of cigarettes during an armed robbery at a Whiteville Dollar General are behind bars.

Seth Ryan Spivey and Christopher Aron Blackwell were arrested and charged.

According to the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office, the Dollar General was robbed by two masked men, who were later identified as Spivey and Blackwell, on Sunday.

Deputies say the manager and a store employee locked the store and were getting into their vehicles when a masked man came from the side of the store with a shotgun in his hand. One then pointed the shotgun at the victims and demanded them to unlock the store door and reenter the store.

Once inside, Spivey and Blackwell allegedly demanded money from the safe. The victims told Spivey and Blackwell that the safe was on a time delay so during that time, they demanded the registers be emptied and filled a bag with packs of cigarettes.

When the safe opened, deputies say the two took the money inside it.

More than $5,000 and more than 150 packs of cigarettes were stolen.

Spivey, a former Dollar General employee, was terminated from the Old Dock store approximately three weeks prior to the armed robbery.

On Wednesday, deputies say they stopped Spivey while traveling on Highway 130 in front of the same Dollar General store. Spivey did have a concealed firearm inside of his vehicle.

Spivey was detained and brought to the sheriff’s office for an interview. He was later arrested. During it, Blackwell was identified as the second suspect involved in the incident.

Columbus County Sheriff’s Office investigators obtained and executed a search warrant Thursday at Blackwell’s home in Clarendon.

When deputies entered the home they couldn’t find him inside, but noticed a trap door that led to the crawl space underneath the house. It was then determine he had escaped through it when deputies arrived.

After approximately 15 minutes of negotiations with Blackwell, he surrendered.

Investigators say they located and seized several items believed to be related to the Dollar General armed robbery inside the house. He was detained and taken in for an interview. He was later arrested.

Spivey and Blackwell are at the Columbus County Law Enforcement Center under $100,000 bonds.