Poplar Bluff man arrested for armed robbery of store

Authorities say a Poplar Bluff man allegedly robbed a local convenience store at gunpoint Sunday night to obtain the money he owed his mother.

Farris

“At about 9 o’clock (Sunday) night, we received a 911 call of an armed robbery that had just occurred at Green Forest Grocery,” said Butler County Investigator Randle Huddleston. “The cashier said that a male subject wearing dark clothing, with his face covered, entered the store and pointed a handgun at her and demanded the money from the register, as well as the bank bag.”

The clerk, he said, turned over the money from the drawer, as well as the bank bag, which contained an undetermined amount of money.

Huddleston said the suspect, later identified as Ty Dean Farris, allegedly took the money, as well as the store’s cordless telephone to keep the clerk from calling the authorities before he fled the scene.

Armour

“He was in the store approximately a minute to a minute and a half; he was in and out fairly quickly,” said Huddleston, who indicated the clerk reported she was getting ready to close the store when the robbery occurred.

The clerk, he said, reported “she believed the subject to be Ty Farris from his clothing and his voice,” Huddleston said. “She recognized his voice due to the fact she has known him for several years.”

Although Farris initially fled on foot, “he got into a vehicle he had parked nearby,” Huddleston said.

During the ensuing investigation, Huddleston said, officers learned Farris owed his mother some money for a vehicle.

In addition to owing money, “(Farris) had started using meth again,” Huddleston said.

“Contact was made with his mother, and she advised he was on his way to her residence in Dexter to pay her the money,” Huddleston said.

Officers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Dexter Police Department were notified of a possible vehicle description and the address of Farris’ mother on Frontage Road.

“They responded to that residence and approximately 10 minutes later, they apprehended Ty Farris and Kelsie (Jasha) Armor as they pulled into the driveway,” Huddleston said.

Farris, 32, and Armor, 24, of Poplar Bluff, were transported to the Butler County Sheriff’s Department, where interviews were conducted, Huddleston said.

“During those interviews, Armor gave statements to Lt. (Charles) Phelps detailing her involvement in the robbery,” Huddleston explained. “Her part in this is that she drove the vehicle and stayed in the area, as well as helped him get rid of evidence.”

Farris, according to Huddleston, “eventually stated that it was him that robbed Green Forest Grocery.”

Before Farris was booked into the Butler County jail, $501.08 in cash was removed from his pants’ pocket, Huddleston said.

“Farris stated that was part of the money he had taken from Green Forest,” Huddleston said.

Jeff Darnell, owner of Green Forest Grocery, initially estimated about $700 in cash and checks had been stolen, said Huddleston.

The investigation, he said, is ongoing as officers continue to collect evidence, as well as process the “suspect vehicle.”

While at the Dexter residence, Huddleston said, officers saw “through the window of the vehicle, U.S. currency and rolled coins laying in the seat and floorboard of the vehicle.”

The Toyota Camry reportedly was towed and secured pending the application of a search warrant.

That search warrant was executed Monday.

“In the vehicle was $325.10 in cash and rolled coins, as well as the cordless phone from Green Forest and a glass pipe with white powder residue contained inside of it,” Huddleston explained.

The “grand total” of the cash taken from Farris’ person and found in the car was $826.18, Huddleston said.

Farris and Armor are being held in the Butler County jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and stealing. Farris also is being held on a warrant for forgery.