Dollar General robber goes to prison, SC official says. Here’s how he was caught

Just before he was scheduled to stand trial for an armed robbery at a Dollar General store in South Carolina a man pleaded guilty to multiple violent crimes, according to the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

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On Aug. 17, the day his jury trial was going to start, Raquan Antrun Holmes pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of pointing and presenting a firearm, one count of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, the solicitor’s office said in a news release.

Judge T.W. McGee sentenced Holmes to 15 years in a South Carolina Department of Corrections prison, according to the release. As of Sunday, the 27-year-old Holmes was an inmate being held at Kirkland Reception and Evaluation Center in Columbia, prison records show.

The conviction stems from a Aug. 6, 2021 incident, when Holmes was armed with a handgun as he entered the Dollar General at 2567 U.S. 1 North in the Cassatt area of Kershaw County, the solicitor’s office said. Holmes hit the clerk in the head and held the clerk and her co-worker at gunpoint while demanding that the clerk open the store safe, according to the release.

After accessing the safe, Holmes took an undisclosed sum of money and left the store, then made his way to his vehicle which he had parked at a residence near the Dollar General just before the robbery, the solicitor’s office said. It was the vehicle that helped investigators connect Holmes to the armed robbery.

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Before the robbery, the homeowner spoke with Holmes, who said he was having car trouble, according to the release. After the robbery, the homeowner identified Holmes in a photo lineup and provided law enforcement officers with the vehicle information for the car Holmes was driving, the solicitor’s office said.

Law enforcement officers also traced the vehicle to one of Holmes’s acquaintances, according to the release. Holmes surrendered to law enforcement officers a few days later, the solicitor’s office said.

The Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation.

Deputy Solicitor Curtis Pauling and Assistant Solicitor Michael Bradbury prosecuted the case. Public defender John Tate was listed as Holmes’ attorney, Kershaw County court records show.