Robbery suspects in custody after standoff in Lenoir County

LA GRANGE, N.C. (WITN) - Armored law enforcement personnel flooded the home of 3300 Kurt Drive Monday morning after a search warrant was issued for two people they say are responsible for robbing the Falling Creek convenience store at gunpoint Friday evening.

The Lenoir County Sheriff’s office says Octavious McCord and Monica Munoz were wanted for the robbery of money and items within the store.

Sheriff Jackie Rogers says Munoz came out of the home when asked by law enforcement but McCord refused.

“We did some damage to the residence here to get him [McCord] out of the home. Our team had to go into the residence and get him because he still refused to get out. Our team then went inside the home and found him hiding in a closet,” says Rogers.

Rogers says law enforcement used tear gas and an armored vehicle known as the Bear-Cat as a precaution since they said McCord was armed during the robbery.

Rogers stated that McCord is no stranger to Lenoir County, and Monday’s standoff was a case of Deja Vu.

“He was a suspect from Georgia and we got information from him about six months ago that he was in Lenoir County. We got a location on it and our SWAT team went out and found him then. Basically the same thing we did today, we got him out of the house and he was extradited back to Georgia and now he left Georgia and went back to Lenoir County,” says Rogers.

In April, McCord was arrested after a brief standoff on Pauls Path Road in Lenoir County on fugitive warrants out of Georgia.

Rogers says that McCord and Munoz were taken into custody and charged for Friday’s robbery and that McCord will be responsible for the damage done to the home.