Man pistol-whipped clerk during holdup of Little Rock gas station, police say

Laroy Benard Gay, Jr.
Laroy Benard Gay, Jr.

A Little Rock man is accused of pistol-whipping a gas station clerk during a robbery Monday afternoon, police said.

Laroy Benard Gay, Jr., 20, was arrested later that day on charges of aggravated robbery and felony property theft. He is believed to be one of four robbers who held up the Phillips 66 at 8629 Chicot Road, according to a report from the Little Rock Police Department. A 17-year-old girl involved in the robbery has also been arrested.

Officers responded to a call from the gas station shortly before 4:30 p.m. and found the 56-year-old clerk bleeding from his nose and the top of his head, the report said.

Police reviewed the security footage, which the report said showed two unidentified robbers — one described as a 5-foot-5, 150-pound female with an afro ponytail hairstyle and glasses and the other listed as standing 5 feet 5 inches tall and having straight, medium-length black hair — coming in through the front door.

Authorities said the clerk got out from behind the counter to stop them, and Gay and the 17-year-old entered through the store's rear door. Gay was holding a small black semi-automatic handgun, according to the report.

Gay and the clerk began fighting, the 56-year-old told police. Gay struck the clerk in the face and head with the pistol multiple times, the report states, while the 17-year-old hit the employee with her fists.

Meanwhile, the robber in glasses made off with an armful of spicy pork rings and Big Red bubble gum, police wrote.

The report also listed an iPad and various clothing items as stolen.

Witnesses told police that they saw Gay and the robber with medium-length hair flee north on Azalea Drive and get into a blue sedan.

The clerk was taken to a local hospital with severe lacerations to his face, authorities said. A spokesman for Little Rock police said his injuries were not life-threatening.

Gay was reportedly arrested near his home on Sunflower Drive and was being held without bail at the Pulaski County jail as of Tuesday morning. Police also arrested the 17-year-old, who is charged with aggravated robbery, felony property theft and misdemeanor fleeing.

No other suspects have been named, and no other arrests had been made at the time of the report.

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