Police: Man robbed Columbus Circle K of less than $16

A 20-year-old man accused of stealing approximately $15 in a Circle K armed robbery on Wynnton Road appeared in Columbus Recorder’s Court on Tuesday morning.

Michael William Bush Jr. pleaded not guilty to the 2:09 a.m. Friday incident where police said he brandished a firearm and stole but didn’t harm anyone.

Authorities said they responded called to the scene shortly after the business alarm sounded.

The store clerk on the scene said a black man wearing a white t-shirt and dark shorts entered the store and purchased an item that costs 75 cents. The employee was putting the change in the cash register when the suspect pulled out a black pistol and demanded money.

The gunman calmly walked out the store with approximately $15 stolen from the register. The incident was recorded on a surveillance camera, authorities confirmed.

Responding officers still were investigating on the scene when they saw a man matching the suspect description crossing Wynnton Road immediately west of Brown Avenue around 3:30 a.m. A witness told police that he was the armed robber.

Identified as Bush, the man was taken into custody after a brief foot chase. He made a “spontaneous utterance” in which he denied committing the armed robbery, officials said.

Attorney William Kendrick, who represented Bush, brought in a witness who told the court that his client went to the business to purchase an item. He said Bush was returning back to the business to give the clerk extra change that he received from the transaction when he was arrested.

Officials said they smelled marijuana on Bush and a search conducted after he was taken to the jail confirmed that he was in possession about .5 grams of marijuana with a street value of less than $10. He also had an empty clear plastic baggie in his sock, police said.

Authorities also they also found a loaded black pistol that they believe was brandished in the armed robbery.

Bush was charged with armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana, crossing the guard lines with intoxicants, possession of drug-related objects, reckless conduct and obstruction.

Judge Michael Cielinski dropped the weapon charge as well as the gang charge that police issued after a search through the Georgia Career Information Center’s database confirmed that Bush is a member of the “Gangster Disciples.”

Cielinski said police didn’t present any evidence he was participating in criminal gang activity at the time of the armed robbery.

Though police told the court that Bush was convicted of criminal gang activity in 2009, Cielinski said there were no convictions listed on the defendant’s criminal records.

Bush was ordered held in the Muscogee County Jail after being denied bond on at least one of his charges. The case was bound over to Superior Court.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Police: Man robbed Columbus Circle K of less than $16."