From staff reports

The Griffin Police Department on Thursday arrested Jeffrey Lynn Calhoun, a robbery suspect, only minutes after the incident occurred.

Members of the Uniform Patrol Division and Criminal Investigations Division responded to Kip’s Southside Spirits at 5:18 p.m. in reference to a robbery.

Cpl. Bryan Clanton, one of the responding investigators and GPD spokesman, said, “The incident started when Jeffrey Calhoun, 38 years old, entered Kip’s Southside Spirits and started to purchase a lime. When the store employee opened the register to give him his change, Calhoun forced his way into the cash drawer, snatched some of the store’s money and ran from the location. Another employee pursued Calhoun on foot and observed him running into Parkhill Apartments.”

As investigators arrived on the scene, a resident of Parkhill Apartments walked to the store and informed investigators that Calhoun had entered his apartment and was hiding inside. Members of the GPD Crime Suppression Unit, now referred to as the Career Offenders-Burglary-Robbery-Apprehension Unit (COBRA), were immediately available to assist with the search. COBRA officers entered the apartment and found Calhoun inside.

“Sgt. Gene Mathews, a COBRA supervisor, observed a bed in one of the bedrooms. Even though he thought the space below the bed to be too small for someone to hide under, he lifted it anyway to check. Mathews located Jeffrey Calhoun cowering under the bed,” Clanton said. “He was arrested and the money was recovered.”

According to authorities, witnesses from Kip’s Southside Spirits were able to identify Calhoun as the alleged offender from Thursday’s robbery. Calhoun is being held at the Spalding County Jail, where he is charged with robbery by sudden snatching.

Calhoun is also now a suspect in similar robbery incidents which have occurred recently at other Griffin convenience stores.