Police arrest man for robbing Star Plus Food Mart while talking on cell phone [video]

Police are seeking a man they say robbed a store at gunpoint on May 20, 2017.
Police are seeking a man they say robbed a store at gunpoint on May 20, 2017.

Police have identified and arrested a suspect in Saturday's robbery of the Star Plus Food Mart on the 7400 block of Lee Highway.

In a video released by police, the robber looked around the store while pretending to talk on his phone, then waved a gun at the clerk and demanded money.

An anonymous citizen identified the man as Payton Cleveland, 22, but at just about the same time he was identified, another robbery occurred a few blocks away from the first scene on the 6600 block of Lee Highway with a similar suspect description.

Authorities were able to locate both Cleveland and an accomplice, Bailey Roddy, 20, at a Citgo further down Lee Highway that investigators believe the suspects could have been planning to rob immediately before they were taken into custody.

Chattanooga investigators also are working in cooperation with agencies in Georgia and East Ridge, which experienced robberies with a similar suspect description over the weekend.

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