Armed robbery thwarted in NK

Three suspects are under arrest following an attempted armed robbery last Saturday night outside a New Kent County restaurant.

Authorities say the wife of the owner of Prima Pizza had just walked outside the Bottoms Bridge restaurant around 10 p.m. and was carrying a satchel containing the day’s receipts. A man wearing a ski mask and brandishing a handgun approached her in the parking lot.

The man demanded the money, but the woman refused to hand over the satchel. The woman also told the man she recognized him, Det. Matt Wiggins said.

Another restaurant employee intervened, forcing the suspect to abort the robbery attempt, run to a nearby pickup truck, and drive away. No shots were fired, and no one was injured during the encounter, Wiggins said.

The victims alerted the sheriff’s office concerning the suspect’s description along with the pickup’s license number. A short distance away at the intersection of Longview Drive and North Woodland Circle in the Five Lakes subdivision, Deputy Jim Anthony stopped the pickup and arrested the driver, Charles W. Kirby, 28, of 3839 Poverty Hall Road in Quinton.

Information supplied by Kirby led to the arrest of the other two suspects. Investigators found Neal Alan Truslow Jr., 28, of 5400 Coxson Road, Richmond, and Misty Sharee Lail, 29, of 1340 Schoolhouse Road, Richmond, waiting at Kirby’s residence. Both are charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

Kirby, meanwhile, is charged with one count each of attempted armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. More charges could be placed, Wiggins said. All three were being held without bond in Henrico Jail East pending arraignments held yesterday (Tuesday) in New Kent General District Court.

“It looks like an inside job,” Wiggins said, noting that Lail worked as a waitress at the restaurant.

Investigators, meanwhile, have recovered a handgun and ski mask they believe were used during the robbery attempt.