Michael Atkinson

PARKERSBURG – A Coolville man was arrested Wednesday for an armed robbery that occurred Tuesday night in Parkersburg.

Michael Ray Atkinson, 24761 Brimstone Road, Coolville, was arrested Tuesday by Parkersburg Police after robbing the Twisted Glass Smoke Shop at 1201 Murdoch Ave. in Parkersburg, according to the criminal complaint filed in Wood County Magistrate Court.

The criminal complaint written by Detective A.C. Williams of the Parkersburg Police Department said two people were working their shifts at the establishment when a white male entered holding a firearm.

“The suspect immediately began pointing a silver handgun at (one of the employees) … while demanding all the cash from inside the register,” the complaint said.

Another employee was nearby and the suspect demanded he lay down on the floor. Both employees were told by the suspect to empty their pockets and give him all the money they had on them.

“The victims further stated that the suspect had threatened their lives multiple times during the robbery and made the statement that he would kill them if they were to contact law enforcement after he left,” Williams wrote. “The victims also stated that during the robbery the suspect demanded their identification as he planned to kill them if law enforcement was contacted.”

At the conclusion of the crime, the suspect was able to flee the store with more than $800 in cash and packs of L&M 100 cigarettes. As he fled, he dropped two packs of cigarettes in the middle of 12th Street in front of the business.

According to a release from the Parkersburg Police Department, Atkinson was found around 2:24 a.m. Wednesday in the 800 block of Garfield Avenue and taken into custody without incident.

“At the time of the arrest there was evidence located on Mr. Atkinson that connected him to the robbery,” the release said.

Atkinson was also arraigned on charges from an incident on March 20 relating to a stolen vehicle registered in Athens County, Ohio.

The vehicle was taken from a woman at Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church in Mineral Wells. An investigation showed Atkinson was the driver of a white 2003 Ford F250 spray painted black with a spray painted blue strip on the hood with improper Ohio registration.

Atkinson allegedly drove the vehicle south on Turkeyfoot Road/Society Hill Road to the intersection with West Virginia Route 14 (Elizabeth Pike). He allegedly ran a stop sign at a high rate of speed and crossed the road into Mt. Zion Baptist Church Cemetery.

“The vehicle ran over and knocked several tombstones from their mounts and damaged the tombstones,” according to the criminal complaint written by Deputy R.C. Fraizer of the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.

Damage to the cemetery was estimated at $2,500.

In a related incident on March 20, Wood County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to 152 Graham Lane in Mineral Wells where a woman reported her 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee had been stolen from her garage. The vehicle was found the next day in Athens County.

A pair of pants were found in the vehicle with a bank card belonging to Atkinson, according to a criminal complaint written by Deputy C.P. Nichols of the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.

On March 20, a domestic assault occurred involving Atkinson where he fled in a stolen pickup, crashed it and then fled the scene. A picture of Atkinson was obtained which contained many of the clothing items found in the vehicle.

Atkinson was also arraigned as being a fugitive from justice out of Washington County, from an October incident where he was charged with theft from a person in a protected class, breaking and entering and grand theft of a motor vehicle.

Atkinson is being charged with bringing stolen property into the state, destruction of property, burglary, grand larceny, first-degree robbery, being a fugitive from justice and domestic assault and was held without bond.