DAVIE COUNTY: It was November 4, 2007 around 12:15 in the morning. After closing up the Sagebrush Steakhouse off Yadkinville Road in Mocksville, four current employees and one former employee were walking to their cars, located behind the restaurant.
The manager was still inside. As a rule, employees were instructed to walk to their cars with at least one other person. While the five were chatting in the parking lot, a black male wearing dark clothes (possibly navy blue coveralls), black boots, black gloves and a black ski mask appeared from behind a dumpster and approached the group, armed with a shotgun. He commanded them to open the back door in an attempt to rob the restaurant.
It wasn’t long before the suspect and the former employee, James Michael Jones, began arguing. A short time later, the suspect allegedly pointed his weapon at Jones and fired. Jones was shot once in the chest, fell to the ground and died.
The suspect then allegedly grabbed one of the female employees standing close by and held her hostage at gunpoint. He forced her to move around to the front of building. They banged on the main entrance door several times, trying to get the manager to open up, without luck.
Meanwhile, the three employees took off running toward 601, the main highway located adjacent to the steakhouse. They flagged down a marked highway patrol car that happened to be passing by. They directed the officer to the scene. He approached the restaurant with his blue lights turned on.
The suspect didn’t flinch when he saw the blue lights of the patrol car pulling into the parking lot. Not until he realized he was not going to gain access inside the business did he release his hostage and calmly walk away. Authorities believe the suspect may have driven away from the scene in a car that was parked near an on-ramp off I-40 at exit 170.
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Wanted for:
Murder
Kidnapping
Attempted armed robbery
Profile:
Sex: Male
Race: Black
Age: 20’s-early 30’s
Height: 6’
Weight: 170-200 lbs.
Skin: Light complexion
Other traits: Brown almond shaped eyes and wide nose
