A man from Woodruff received a 25 year prison sentence after a spree of convenience store robberies in 2008 and 2009.
Thirty-two year old Kenneth Ray Rice pleaded guilty to three counts of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. The robberies occurred at the Li'l Cricket convenience stores on Highway 221 and Highway 92 and the Kangaroo convenience store on N. Main Street in Woodruff between December 30, 2008 and Jnauary 17, 2009.
Rice entered the businesses at night or the early morning hours while carrying a pipe, baseball bat or knife. He managed to escape with money from all three robberies, while an attempted robbery at a fourth convenience store failed when a clerk pushed Rice away from the counter and chased him out of the business.
Woodruff Police managed to identify Rice after the January 17 robbery due to surveillance video from the store that showed he entered the store earlier in the day and wore the same outfit he wore at the time of the robbery. Rice was found hours later hiding in a dumpster near his house.
In a prepared statement issued from Seventh Circuit Solcitor Trey Gowdy's office, Principal Deputy Solicitor Barnette said, Rice committed the robberies to support his crack addiction.
"This is a good example of the impact of illegal drugs on a person's life," said Barnette. "Kenneth Rice will have plenty of time behind barsto think about the consequences of his pathetic actions."
Rice must serve 85 percent of the sentence before he is eligible for release.
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