Georgia man, woman indicted in Check Into Cash robbery

 

CLINTON—A Georgia man and woman have been indicted in a robbery at Check Into Cash in Oak Ridge in June 2015.

Arvenzio Clyde Miles, 24, and Kianna Denise Hill, 22, were indicted by the Anderson County Grand Jury on July 6, 2016. They had arraignments in Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court in Clinton on Friday.

Miles and Hill are both charged with three counts of aggravated robbery, a Class B felony; especially aggravated kidnapping with a gun, a Class A felony; and aggravated assault while displaying a firearm, a Class C felony.

Hill and Miles are accused in an armed robbery at Check Into Cash at 361 South Illinois Avenue at about 3:15 p.m. Friday, June 26, 2015. They were arrested less than two weeks later in East Point, Georgia, southwest of Atlanta, on Wednesday, July 8, 2015.

The indictments allege that Hill and Miles confined Calvin Murray, a store manager, and employees Morgan Gist and Joy Jennings, and took their cell phones while displaying a firearm. All three were forced into a restroom at gunpoint against their will, and they were held captive there until the robbery was complete, according to arrest warrants filed in July 2015. The warrants alleged that the cell phones were taken to prevent the victims from calling the police.

The indictments also allege that the pair assaulted Murray while displaying the gun.

The arrest warrants said Murray was seated at his desk when the suspects entered Check Into Cash on June 26 last year, and the male suspect, later identified as Miles, allegedly jumped over a counter and confronted Murray at gunpoint while the female suspect, later identified as Hill, talked to the second worker, according to the warrants.

Gist and Murray said Hill and Miles took their cell phones from them and forced them to the rear of the store, according to the warrants.

Miles then forced Murray over to the safe, the warrants said.

“He (Murray) stated that the male suspect (Miles) demanded that he open the safe and then started hitting him with his handgun when he wasn’t moving fast enough,” the warrants said. “He stated that the male suspect hit him on the head with the handgun several times while the female suspect was yelling at the male suspect, ‘Just shoot him!’”

Miles allegedly ordered the manager to disconnect the video recorder located in the restroom where the employees were being held, according to the warrants, which were filed in Anderson County General Sessions Court by Oak Ridge Police Department Detective John R. Criswell.

Then, the two employees were allegedly ordered to stay where they were, Criswell said.

Gist and Murray said Hill and Miles took all of the cash from the cash drawers at the front counter along with the video recorder and fled the business, the warrants said.

Jennings, the third employee, told police she was returning from her lunch break when she was confronted at gunpoint by Hill as she walked into the business. Hill forced her to the restroom in the rear of the store, where Gist was already being held, and took her cell phone, Jennings said, according to the warrants.

Jennings said Miles was hitting Murray, her manager, with his gun because Murray could not get the safe open, the warrants said.

Jennings was also told to stay in the restroom, and she also said “they left with the money from the cash drawers located at the front counter of the business.”

Murray was treated at the hospital for his injuries and released, according to the warrants.

Gist and Murray identified Hill and Murray from photo lineups, the warrants said. When Criswell and ORPD Detective Kevin Craig went to Georgia to arrest Hill, she was with Miles, who resembled the description given by the victims, which specifically included a missing front tooth, the warrants said.

Hill and Miles remained jailed in the Anderson County Detention Facility in Clinton on Saturday afternoon. Hill has been jailed there since July 31, 2015, and Miles has been there since August 18.

The charges against Hill were waived to the Anderson County Grand Jury in Anderson County General Sessions Court on October 8, and the charges against Miles were waived to the grand jury on December 17.

Hill is represented by defense attorney Kevin C. Angel, and Miles is represented by a public defender.

Miles is a resident of Riverdale, Georgia, and Hill is a resident of East Point, Georgia.

 

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