SPARTANBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – The search is on for the man deputies said robbed a Wellford convenience store at gunpoint Monday night. The cashier working at the time told us, the bullets barely missed his head.
It started as a typical night for Brandon Pridmore, working behind the counter at Southern Pride Convenience store along Nazareth Road.
That was until an unfamiliar man walked in.
“He steps around, already has his pistol drawn. He says, open the register and give me the bank bags,” Brandon Pridmore told us, who was working at the store when an armed robbery happened.
Pridmore said he started to do just that but was having difficulties getting the register to open.
“Before I could get it open, he pulls over and fires a shot at my head,” Pridmore said.
Before he could even react to what was happening, he said his register opened and the robber took a couple hundred bucks. But that wasn’t the last of the gunfire.
“He turns around, points and fires another shot,” Pridmore explained.
All those bullets narrowly missed Pridmore. His co-worker Nicole Boyd said they’re still in shock about it all.
“To be shot at is what really tore me up and I couldn’t believe it,” said Nicole Boyd, who works at Southern Pride Convenience store.
He said it didn’t really hit him until he saw the surveillance footage the next day.
“It could have easily turned out the opposite. The detective told me and my boss that night, it could have easily been a homicide,” Pridmore said.
Today, Pridmore is thankful to be alive.
“Have to thank the Lord,” Pridmore said.
The suspect for the attempted murder and armed robbery incident has been identified as 43-year old Carl Darel Peterson. Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office says he is a black male and his last known address is 3905 Augusta Rd. in Greenville.
A man accused of armed robbery at a Spartanburg Co. convenience store has been identified as Carl Peterson. (Spartanburg Co. Sheriff’s Office)
Deputies say he is homeless and very transient. Peterson now has active arrest warrants for Discharging a Firearm Into a Dwelling, Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, Possession of a Weapon During the Commission of a Violent Crime, Kidnapping, Attempted Murder, and Armed Robbery. He should be considered armed and dangerous, according to the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with any information about his location is urged to call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.
