A Little Rock man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to an amended felony charge stemming from his robbery of a convenience store last year.
Roderick Steven McClinton, 25, who was set to stand trial Wednesday in Garland County Circuit Court, was initially charged with aggravated robbery, punishable by up to life in prison, but pleaded guilty to robbery and was sentenced to the maximum of 20 years in prison, with 10 years suspended.
According to the affidavit, on Feb. 26, 2015, around 10:30 p.m., Hot Springs police officers responded to the Valero, 3228 Central Ave., in reference to a robbery that had just occurred.
Two female employees and a male customer stated a black male had entered the store a few minutes earlier and told them, "This is a robbery." The suspect walked up to the customer at the counter, shoved an unknown item into his back, and told the employees to give him the money in the cash register.
The suspect warned them not to hit any alarms or call police or he would shoot the customer in the back. The employees handed the suspect approximately $450 and he fled.
One employee stated she recognized the robber because he entered the store twice before the robbery. Video footage showed the suspect entering the store at 8:25 p.m., making a purchase and leaving. He came back 14 minutes before the robbery to make another purchase before leaving again.
On March 2, HSPD Detective Scott Lampinen sent a photo of the suspect to various media outlets. He was contacted by a detective with the Little Rock Police Department who stated the suspect appeared to be McClinton.
The next day, Lampinen obtained recent booking photos of McClinton and positively identified him as the suspect who robbed the store. The two employees were shown photo lineups featuring McClinton and both identified him as the robber.
McClinton was taken into custody on March 10, 2015, and initially held on $250,000 bond. The bond was later reduced to $50,000 and he was released.
Local on 07/29/2016