Horry County police arrested Tuesday Hezekiah Bethea, 49, of Myrtle Beach for holding up a Murrells Inlet convenience store with a switchblade knife.
Around 12:15 a.m. Sunday, a man walked into the Kangaroo gas station on Highway 17 Business and asked for a pack of Newport cigarettes.
While the cashier turned around to get the cigarettes, the suspect pulled out a silver switchblade knife and pointed it at the cashier, according to the police report.
The victim told police she opened the register and handed the suspect $45.
The suspect then demanded the victim go to the bathroom and count to a hundred as he left the store, the report says.
A few minutes prior to the robbery, a Surfside Beach police corporal saw a black Pontiac Grand Am circling the Kangaroo parking lot.
The officer followed the car for sometime and ran the license plate, but was called out for service and stopped following the car.
With the help of surveillance video from the gas station, the corporal confirmed it was the same car used in the robbery.
The suspect was seen getting out of the car before he went into the gas station, the report says.
The video also showed the car traveling north toward Surfside Beach after the robbery.
By identifying Bethea's DMV photo, the victim told police he was the suspect that robbed the station.
A background check on Bethea showed he had four prior convictions of Armed Robbery and one prior conviction of Strong Arm Robbery, the report says.
Only one of the convictions had occurred within the past ten years.
Police charged Bethea with Armed Robbery, Robbery While Armed or Allegedly Armed w/ a Deadly Weapon.
He is being held at J. Reuben Detention Center with no bail set at this time.
