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Teen Charged In Attempted Robbery As Marion Sees Crime Rise At Dollar Generals

Travis Sharpin (Photo from Marion County Sheriff's Office)
Travis Sharpin (Photo from Marion County Sheriff's Office)

A 16-year-old was arrested Monday after police say he pointed a pistol at someone in the parking lot of a Marion County Dollar General.

Travis Sharpin was charged with attempted armed robbery after the Nov. 8 incident at the store on U.S. Highway 441 in Summerfield, according to a news release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Positive identification by the victim caused the delay between the incident and arrest.

Detectives happened to be at the store during the robbery for a security check because other area Dollar General stores have been robbed recently, sheriff's office spokesman Ryan Robbins later told WUFT News. But the checks, he added, extend to other businesses.

Robberies are "happening in other areas other than Dollar Generals," he said, "but we acknowledge that the Dollar Generals have been very consistent."

The detectives first saw Sharpin lay down his bicycle about 9:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the store, and he then moved into the shadow of the building, the release said. After a few minutes, Sharpin walked across the parking lot, and the detectives saw him confront a man.

The man later told police that Sharpin was wearing a camouflage bandana across his face, pointed a gun at him and told him not to move, the release said. The man said he felt like he was going to be robbed and headed back toward the store.

Sharpin then ran away when detectives approached him, but a police dog was able to follow a track to his house, the release said. Sharpin wasn't there, though.

But police arrested Sharpin the next day for separate residential burglaries and robberies unrelated to the ones at Dollar General stores, the release said. And during a search warrant of the house, police found masks, holsters and stolen guns in his room — along with the bike that had been left at the Dollar General.

Family members said that the bike was Sharpin’s, and the man from the store was able to later identify Sharpin in a photo line-up, leading to his arrest Monday, the release said.

Amalie Batchelder is a reporter for WUFT news, and can be reached at 352-392-6397 or amalie.batchelder@gmail.com.