December 31, 2007 04:04 pm
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A Roane County woman told police she used a Sharpie marker in her pocket to make a clerk believe she had a gun when she allegedly attempted to rob an eastern Cumberland County convenience store Wednesday.
Donna Faye Pectol, 49, 537 S. Kingston Ave., Rockwood, is charged with attempted aggravated armed robbery of Jolley's Market on Hwy. 70 E. in Westel around 6:45 p.m. She was taken into custody at her home by Roane County authorities and returned to Cumberland County where she was questioned and later charged.
Deputies responded to the convenience store on a report of a robbery in progress and were told to be on the lookout for a black 1997 Mazda Miotta that left the store traveling at a high rate of speed toward Roane County. Officers in that county found the suspect's vehicle parked at her home and took her into custody without incident.
The market's owner, Gail Comer, told deputies that a woman entered the store with her right hand in her right jacket pocket, and asked if milk was sold at the store. Comer said she directed the woman to a cooler and that the woman returned to the counter with a gallon of milk. The woman then asked who the owner was and if the store was hiring help.
When the woman turned away from the owner and walked to an ice cream freezer, Cromer, who was suspicious of the way the woman was acting, looked out the store window and wrote down the suspect's tag number.
When the woman returned to the counter, she raised up her right hand, with the Sharpie pen making a point in the pocket, and told the clerk, "I want your money."
The owner said she responded, telling the woman that she did not have any money. The woman then grabbed the owner and a brief struggle took place before the owner was able to free herself and dial 911. The woman then fled the store, with the Sharpie pen falling out of her pocket.
The store owner was not injured in the incident. Pectol faces a Jan. 7 hearing in Cumberland County General Sessions Court.
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