Du Quoin Food Mart Armed Robbery Investigated

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A robbery suspect working alone pulled his late model Kia Spectra up to the front door of the Marathon food mart near the intersection of Rt. 51 and Rt. 14 south of Du Quoin Thursday morning and took upwards of $500 from an attending clerk.

Chief of Police Mike Ward said the robbery suspect appeared to have a firearm tucked beneath a jacket he was carrying over his arm.

Chief Ward described the suspect as a white male in his early 50s wearing a motorcycle or ATV helmet, blue jeans and a black T-shirt.

"It was like a snatch and run," said Ward. The man made a demand for money out of the cash drawer, exited the gas mart and headed west on Green's Market Road. A video surveillance tape shows a maroon Kia Spectra with a sunroof--possibly a 2006 or 2007. The plate may have captured a partial plate number that begins with the number A86 then an unidentifiable number followed by a "1", then another number and finally a "1". Anyone with information should contact the Du Quoin Police Department at 542-2131 or Illinois State Police at 542-2171.