Armed Robbery at Run-In a Hoax

By Joel Frady

In the Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008, edition of the Ashe Mountain Times, it was reported that the Run-In gas

station was robbed by a gunman at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16. After the investigation, however, Ashe County Sheriff James Williams said that there was no armed robbery and that the robbery was made up by 19-year-old Ashley M. Burgess of West Jefferson, who was working at the station that night.

"We were real skeptical of the story to begin with," said Williams. "There were things that didn't add up about it."

In the original police report filed with the Sheriff's Department, Burgess had claimed that a slender, white male who was approximately six feet tall entered the store with a weapon, handed her a bag and told her to put money in the bag.

Now, Burgess has admitted that there was no armed robber.

"She said that she went outside and pulled the phone lines loose, then went back in and took the money out of the drawer and put it in her car," said Williams. "She then went back in and called on her cell phone to report the fake robbery."

Burgess was arrested on Monday afternoon and charged with the misdemeanor charge of filing a fictitious report and the felony charge of larceny by an employee. Williams noted that Burgess "doesn't have any prior criminal record."

Burgess has been released on bond and is awaiting her first court appearance.

Store manager Carie Osborne, who had stated that the alleged armed robbery had "scared [Burgess] pretty bad," did not comment on Monday's arrest.

While there is no longer a gunman on the loose, store owner Bob Ashley said that the reports of the alleged armed robbery have hurt the store's business.

"That story did not happen, and the girl lied," he said. "She was not robbed, and it's costing us a bunch of business." He noted that several customers told him they weren't going to visit the station, and that "a lot of customers weren't coming in because they were afraid. The store's been broken into several times, and when they threw the part in about the gun-point robbery people were afraid to stop in because they thought they would get robbed."

Williams added that the armed robbery hoax is separate from the series of five break-ins that occurred at the gas station in a three-month span last fall, and that the break-ins are still under investigation.

The Run-in is offering a reward for anyone with information that might lead to the arrest and conviction in the break-ins. Anyone with information can contact company loss prevention at (336) 452-0653 or the Holly Mountain Office at (336) 667-9062.