May 22, 2013
A teenager has been arrested in the latest case of an Internet sweepstakes cafe robbery in Eastern Carolina.
William Inman of Jacksonville was arrested by Onslow County deputies shortly after the robbery late Wednesday afternoon at Sweepstakes Internet Cafe on New Bern Highway.
The manager says at first the man came in an asked how the games worked. As the manager was reviewing the process, the man pulled out a handgun and demanded money. After a brief struggle, deputies say the man grabbed money and a bank bag near the register and ran away.
Deputies say the manager ran to his pickup truck and chased the man across Highway 17 toward Halltown Road. They say he followed the man for about a mile while on the phone with 911. The manager eventually lost sight of the man, but deputies quickly arrived and found him in the bed of a nearby pickup truck.
Deputies say they found the stolen money, bank bag and a BB gun with Inman.
The 17-year-old was jailed on a $35,000 bond and is expected to go before a judge this morning. Deputies have not said whether Inman is suspected in other sweepstakes robberies that have happened in Pitt, Lenoir and Martin counties.
