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Man arrested for violent crimes in Rock Hill, Chester County

ROCK HILL, SC — A man considered armed and dangerous was arrested after police connected two violent crimes committed in two counties within two hours.

Police said 47-year-old William Joseph Bogue robbed a woman at gunpoint at the mall in Rock Hill and held up a store in Chester County 90 minutes earlier.

Bogue was arrested in Chester County Friday.

Rock Hill police said the victim at the Galleria Mall was a woman in her 60s.

She was walking to her car outside Belk around 3 p.m. Wednesday when Bogue drove up to her in his pickup truck with a gun and opened the door, police said.

He took her purse and then hit her with the door of his pickup as he took off, police said. She was knocked to the ground and taken to the hospital for minor injuries, officials said.

Less than two hours earlier, Chester sheriff's deputies said the same man robbed Bob's Food Mart on Highway 9 in Richburg, South Carolina.

The owner there showed Channel 9 the surveillance video on his phone. On it, you can see the suspect come to the counter with a gun, quickly grab cash and leave.

Sheriff's investigators in Chester County said the man took off on I-77 toward Rock Hill and then found the next victim at the Galleria Mall.

The woman's purse was later found in a dumpster on East Main Street in Rock Hill without her cash and cellphone.

Some shoppers said they think the mall is safe, but still always use caution.

"I never go shopping by myself,” shopper Karen Helms said. “I either have my husband or my kids or somebody with me.”

Mall security cameras did not show the incident or the pickup truck involved.

Other shoppers said too often, seniors make easy targets.

"They target older people because they knew they can't defend themselves or run," shopper Bobbie Pittman said.

Bogue's black F-150 pickup truck was later found at a house in Chester County late Wednesday, but he has not been found.

There are warrants out for his arrest in Rock Hill and Chester County.

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