2 York Co. convenience stores robbed in less than 24 hours

In the moments following an armed robbery, once police have made sure no one was hurt, they immediately ask about surveillance video.

Surveillance pictures of a crime can give detectives a wealth of valuable information. However, what may seem like a win for police ends up slowing down an investigation at a critical time.

"The quicker we get that information, the quicker we can get that suspect's description," said York County Det. Mike Baker.

In York County, two armed robberies in less than 24 hours have detectives working around the clock.

The Exxon station on Cherry and Celanese roads at Interstate 77 was robbed at gunpoint early Tuesday morning. A black man in all black clothing with a mask on and a gray furry hat was seen leaving the store.

Then Tuesday night just before midnight, someone held up the BP station on Highway 160 in Fort Mill.  The suspect was also a black man in all black clothes. He was wearing a white surgical mask and carrying a gun and a plastic bag.

In both of the robberies, police still don't have surveillance video. Both businesses apparently have working camera systems, but there's an issue with downloading the video and getting it into a format that police can use.

What police do have is the suspect's description from both clerks, and a customer, Sean Wilson. He was walking into the Fort Mill BP when the robber was walking out.

"He walked right past me with the gun, and a bag, around behind the building," Wilson said. “It happened so quickly, it didn't seem real at first.”

"It's one of those things where you don't really know what you saw until afterwards," Wilson said. "The truth is, my thought was, ‘I'm a single parent; I have two kids. Stay out of it,’" he said.

However, he did not. He went inside the store, made sure the clerk was OK and stayed to tell sheriff's deputies what he saw.

Fortunately no one was hurt in either robbery. However, deputies are on alert after two violent crimes near I-77 on the same day. 

They are not certain if the two crimes are linked.