A 20-year-old Ashburn man has been charged in two of the five convenience store robberies that occurred over a 24-hour period in Ashburn, according to the Sheriff's Office.
George H. Byars, 20, was charged Monday, Nov. 20, after he attempted to flee from deputies who had surrounded the 7-Eleven on Ashburn Road. A perimeter had been established around the store to investigate a robbery that occurred around 10:45 p.m. that evening.
During the robbery, the suspect reportedly entered the store dressed in black and wearing a mask and brandished a knife, Kraig Troxell, the Sheriff's Office spokesperson, said. The suspect left the premises with a small amount of cash and several cartons of cigarettes.
Around 11 p.m. that evening, deputies observed a suspicious vehicle near their location around Glen Hazel Drive and Grottoes Drive in Ashburn. The vehicle fled the area when deputies attempted to stop the car. Byars allegedly went through a stop sign at Gloucester Parkway before turning off his lights and turning into Downington Court.
Monday night Byars was charged with driving under the influence, underage possession of alcohol and eluding authorities.
ON TUESDAY MORNING, investigators also charged Byars with armed robbery and two counts of abduction for his involvement in the Nov. 20 robbery. Later that morning Byars was charged with an additional count of robbery and abduction for an incident at the Sunoco in the Ashburn Village Shopping Center, Sunday, Nov. 19.
According to the Sheriff's Office, the Sunoco robbery occurred around midnight, where Byars allegedly grabbed an employee and demanded money before fleeing with a small amount of cash. The Sunoco robbery was one of four robberies in the Ashburn area during a two-hour period Sunday night.
"All the other incidents remain under investigation," Troxell said. He added that Byars remains a suspect in those incidents.
THE FIRST ROBBERY Sunday night occurred around 11:30 p.m. when an unknown white male entered a 7-Eleven in the 20600 block of Ashburn Road, the same convenience store deputies surrounded Monday evening. Sunday night, dressed in all black, the man concealed his face with a hooded sweatshirt and a mask. Holding his hand in his shirt to indicate he had a weapon, the man left with a small amount of cash and a 24-pack of beer.
Approximately 30 minutes later a man fitting a similar description entered the Sunoco in Ashburn Village Shopping Center and committed the robbery Byars has now been charged with.
Around 1:15 Monday morning, deputies responded to a third robbery at the Exxon in Ashburn's Parkhurst Plaza. Again the suspect wore all black and brandished a knife, before taking some cash from the register and a carton of cigarettes. Approximately 15 minutes later, the fourth robbery occurred at the Shell gas station in the 20060 block of the Ashbrook Commons Plaza. In this robbery, the suspect held his hand in his shirt and implied he had a weapon. He removed cash, a carton of cigarettes and a bottle drink from one of the store's refrigerators.
Byars is being held currently at the county's Adult Detention Center without bond.