James Kyle Whitley (Hall County Sheriff's Office)
GAINESVILLE, Ga. - A 37-year-old man was booked into the Hall County Jail five hours after investigators say he robbed a convenience store at knifepoint Wednesday.
What we know:
The robbery happened at 4:40 a.m. at the Chevron Food Mart located at 2178 Candler Road. According to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, the man entered the store, pulled out a knife and went behind the counter. Investigators say he grabbed two boxes of kratom products containing 60 pills and drove off. Investigators say the man made off with $420 worth of pills.
It took detectives five hours to track down the suspected robber. Investigators say they were able to track James Kyle Whitley of Talmo to his workplace, located about a mile and a half away from the store.
Whitley was arrested without incident at 8:45 a.m., and a black 2015 Kia Optima he was driving was impounded. He was booked into the Hall County Jail on felony charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault.
Investigators believe Whitley may also be behind a similar robbery Thursday at Zack’s Food Rack located at 2052 Candler Road. Deputies say the clerk ran after the man and injured her knee while he fled.
Detectives used store surveillance footage, witness testimony and social media posts to link Whitley to the crimes. Charges in the June 18 case are pending.
What we don't know:
It remains unknown what specific business Whitley worked at where he was eventually located by detectives. Investigators have not released information on whether the stolen kratom pills were recovered from Whitley or his vehicle. It also is not known if Whitley has retained an attorney or when he will make his first court appearance to face the pending charges from the June 18 robbery.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from the Hall County Sheriff's Office, who explained how we got it through official investigative details, store surveillance footage, witness testimony and social media updates.