Trio charged in connection with robbery

Friday, January 7, 2011
Randy Bailey
Rathal Moore
Rodney Moore

GREENCASTLE -- Three people were formally charged in Putnam County Circuit Court Friday in connection with an armed robbery that occurred Wednesday in Cloverdale.

Rathal Moore, 17, of Quincy is charged with Class B felonies armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, Class D felony theft, Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana and Class A infraction possession of paraphernalia; Rodney Moore, 18, of Quincy is charged with Class B felonies armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery and Class D felonies conspiracy to commit theft and theft; and Randy A. Bailey, 20, of Martinsville is charged with Class B felony conspiracy to commit armed robbery, Class D felony conspiracy to commit theft and Class A misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Bond for all three suspects has been set at $30,000 cash only. Judge Matthew Headley ordered them to be in court Feb. 24 for pretrial conferences.

According to a probable cause affidavit prepared by Putnam County Sheriff's Department Detective Pat McFadden, a report of a robbery at the Tobacco Road Marathon Gas Station located at S.R. 243 and I-70 in Cloverdale came in to Putnam County Dispatch just after midnight on Wednesday.

The clerk at the store told police two suspects had come in and taken the cash drawer. She said she was in the back room filling a mop bucket when the robbery occurred, and that when she heard the store door open she stuck her head out and saw the suspects.

The clerk witnessed one of the suspects grab the drawer, a police report said, but she ducked into the back room to avoid being seen by the suspects.

After she heard the suspects leave, the clerk locked the store and called 911.

Video surveillance at the store showed a male, later identified as Rathal Moore, come into the store and display a black handgun while Rodney Moore stood behind him. Court records said Rathal Moore removed the cash box from the sales counter, and that both teens left the store and went west on foot.

While responding to the 911 call about the robbery, Putnam County Sheriff's Department Deputy Craig Sibbett passed a vehicle traveling east.

"(Sibbett) turned around in an attempt to follow the vehicle," a police report said. "As he started eastbound he observed clothing and a metal box laying on the right side of the road that was not there moments earlier before he turned around."

Sibbett stopped the vehicle, and found two males who matched the description of the robbers given by the Tobacco Road clerk. Bailey was also in the car.

The items in the road turned out to be the clothing that had been worn by the perpetrators of the robbery, and the metal box was the cash drawer from Tobacco Road.

The driver of the car, Brittany Conner, 19, told police she was told by the Moores and Bailey to "pull across the road after leaving Tobacco Road and wait," the police report said.

Conner told police the Moores had robbed Tobacco Road, and that she had been unaware they were planning to do so.

No charges have been filed against Conner.

During the traffic stop, Rathal Moore and Bailey were found to be in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, court records said.

Class B felonies are punishable by a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, while class D felonies carry a three-year maximum sentence.