Worker who was held at gunpoint during robbery talks about experience

UPDATE (12/29/23): Jackson Police announce arrests of suspects in multiple armed robberies

LEXINGTON, Tenn. – Police are still investigating a string of armed robberies that took place in Lexington last week. 

According to the Lexington Police Department, two suspects are being sought in connection to the December 18 robberies of Family Dollar and I-40 Vape Shop. 

There was an additional robbery that took place just two days later at the Marathon and Little General store at 20 North Broad Street.

The suspects in the robberies are described as two black males wearing dark clothing, face masks, and armed with handguns.

We talked to the I-40 Vape Shop worker who was held at gunpoint last Monday. 

“It was hard to fall asleep just in general because I’m just replaying everything that’s happened within the last hour, two hours because I was here an extra hour after we closed with everything going on. And I…I could still feel the gun on the back even though it wasn’t there. I could just feel how it felt on the back of my head for the rest of the night. It wouldn’t go away,” said Emilie Rhodes, who works at the I-40 Vape Shop.

Rhodes said she has been in situations similar but nothing to this extent.

“And so it’s different. You’re more thankful for everything that you have and is going on. I guess you could say that you’re still here. You get to wake up another day,” Rhodes said.

She expressed how uneasy she felt returning to work. 

“Every noise I heard, every door that shut or that door when it opened, I would just pop up and kind of, I was constantly checking to make sure the doors were locked or the bars were on our doors and everything,” Rhodes said.

Since the incident, Store Manager Raven Howard says the store has taken extra security measures to ensure safety. 

There have been additional security lights and cameras installed outdoors, and a safety meeting was held with the entire team

Howard also expressed that more than one person will be working during a single shift.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Lexington Police Department at (731) 968-6666 or Crime Stoppers at (731) 968-8477.

Find updates on local crime here.