Another store hit by masked gunmen
By Elizabeth Billips Associate Editor

Waynesboro police are pushing to solve the Thursday night armed robbery of Golden Pantry, the fifth convenience store to be hit in two months.

According to a report filed at the Waynesboro Police Department, two black males wearing black and white bandanas robbed the store around 10:30 p.m.

One robber, whose face was not fully covered, was identified by the clerk as Jamarion Jaiwan Hughes, a 17-year-old who frequents the Liberty Street store.

She told police that the other robber stood by the front door with a handgun while Hughes walked behind the counter, knocked the telephone out of her hand and took the cash register drawer. She suffered minor injuries when the telephone hit her face.

An arrest warrant was issued for Hughes, but as of Tuesday, he was not in custody.

Police have not released the identity of his accomplice.

Two days earlier and less than a mile away, a Jet Food Store clerk fought off two masked men who tried to rob her at gunpoint.

Police arrested Willie Franklin Bynes, 26, last Thursday, but are still unsure of the other robber's identity.

Although the clerk initially thought Bynes' acomplice was Jermaine Daughtry, 20, he was ruled out as a suspect following a photo line-up.

According to WPD records, local convenience stores have been held up by armed robbers five times in the past two months, and Waynesboro businesses have been burglarized 11 times.

WPD Investigator Claude Wade said he's awaiting GBI crime lab results on DNA evidence, including blood and hair, that was collected at several crime scenes. He said he would not be surprised

if that evidence links one or two individuals to several of the crimes.

Anyone with information about any of the robberies, burglaries or whereabouts of Hughes is asked to call investigators at 706-554-8029.