Deputies arrest suspect in Circle K robbery

Travis Lee Wilson has been arrested and charged in connection with the armed robbery of the Circle K on Falls Hwy. Monday night.

Wilson, 25, of Williamsburg, was lodged into the Whitley County Detention Center at 1:50 a.m. Wednesday morning, following his arrest by Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Sgt. Shawn Jackson.

According to Sheriff Colan Harrell, deputies identified Wilson as the suspect in the robbery after he and a female accomplice came to Pilot Travel Center in Williamsburg where they tried to cash lottery tickets stolen during robbery Tuesday. The clerks refused to cash the tickets, but were able to give investigators the license tag number.

“Sgt. Jackson had arrested (Wilson) several weeks prior, in the same vehicle in the Canadatown area,” Harrell stated.

After positively identifying Wilson as the suspect, deputies secured an arrest warrant for him and began the search.

Later Tuesday night, Jackson received information that Wilson was hiding at a residence at 4120 Cumberland Falls Hwy., less than a mile from the Circle K.

With help from Deputy John Hill and Kentucky State Police Trooper Les Moses, Jackson found Wilson at the residence and took him into custody.

He remains in the detention center on a $25,000 cash bond. No court date has been set.

After interviewing Wilson, Jackson began searching through the dumpster of the residence, where he recovered the clothes the robber wore, along with the bank bag taking during the robbery and the “handgun” used in the robbery.

Upon further examination of the firearm, it was noticed to be a child’s BB pistol, that looked as if to be a regular sized semi-automatic hand gun,” Harrell stated.

According to Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Cpl. Ken Sheppard, video surveillance shows a white male, about 6 feet tall, in his mid 20s, wearing a blue hoodie and kaki shorts, entering the store at 10:27 p.m.

Sheppard said the robber ordered the clerk to step back away from the counter and then came around where he showed her a gun in the pocket of the hoodie. He then opened the store safe, which had been left unlocked, and took a bank bag containing $1,440 in cash. As he was leaving the store, Sheppard said the robber grabbed four $20 Kentucky Lottery Tickets.

Sheppard added that the robber was in and out of the store in one minute.

Witnesses outside the store reported seeing the robber go around the corner to the parking lot of Felts Music Palace where he got into a Ford Taurus and left the scene, heading south on U.S. 25W.