Homeless man arrested for Armed Robbery

On Monday June 7, 2021 at 9:23 a.m., Morganton Department of Public Safety Officers responded to Roses Discount Store at 112 E Fleming Drive in reference to an armed robbery.

The cashier said that a short male who  appeared to be Asian, walked around the counter with a box-cutter knife and pointed it at her. The suspect told the cashier that he would cut her, if she didn`t give him all the money in the register. The cashier refused to give him any money and kept pushing him away. The suspect eventually gave up, stole a Sun Drop drink from the store instead, and ran out the door. The suspect was described as wearing a blue raincoat with the hood up, a blue medical mask, and dark pants that may have been blue jeans.

A witness walked into the store right as the robbery was happening. At first the witness just thought they were "play-fighting" with one another, until he figured out it wasn`t pretend. The witness yelled at the suspect to stop and the suspect left the store.

Another witness stated the male suspect come to the store on a bicycle. The witness also stated when the suspect came out, he fled on his bicycle.

The footage of the incident was reviewed by Investigator’s and a possible suspect was developed. The suspect, Johny Lee age 33 of Morganton, NC was located a few hours later, along with the bicycle he was riding and the clothing he was wearing at the scene of the crime.

Lee was charged with N.C.G.S 14-33(C)(1), Assault Inflicting Serious Injury or with a Deadly Weapon and N.C.G.S. 14-87, Common Law Robbery. Lee received an $80,000 secure bond and was placed in the Burke County Jail. Lee has an initial court appearance on June 10, 2021 in District Court.