GRAYVILLE – A St. Louis woman has been arrested after White County Dispatch received a 911 call in reference to an employee being shot during an armed robbery at the Road Ranger truck stop in Grayville early Sunday morning.
White County Sheriff Jordan Weiss says Kimberly Clerk is facing preliminary charges of Aggravated Battery/Discharge of a Firearm, Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Armed Robbery/Discharge of a Firearm(Class X), Cause of Child to Be Endangered and Felony Possession/Use of a Firearm with prior. Clerk was taken to the Jefferson County Jail awaiting extradition to White County.
The sheriff says at 3 a.m., one of his deputy’s and a Grayville Police officer were at the Grayville Police Department handling another call at the time. They both left and arrived at the truck stop within minutes. A witness told the deputy and officer that the shooter fled the scene in a silver SUV. Both officers found a female lying on the floor in the office area with a single gunshot wound to the upper left torso. A witness had already started to apply pressure to the wound. The deputy and officer immediately rendered aid to the female until White County EMS arrived. An Edwards County Sheriff’s deputy also arrived to the truck stop to help. The female, identified as the night employee, was still conscious and breathing. She was airlifted to Deaconess Midtown Hospital for injuries sustained. The suspect description was given to officers on scene as a black female wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt.
The sheriff says he arrived on scene along with Grayville’s police chief. The sheriff notified ISP Investigations of the incident. They arrived and agreed to lead the investigation along with ISP Crime Scene Services. An alert was put out to all units within Troop 9 about the incident and vehicle description. A payment card was dropped from the suspect with a name on it. The suspect was identified as Kimberly Clerk from St. Louis.
After some time, an ISP trooper located a vehicle matching the description around mile marker 84 on I-64. It appeared to be disabled. ISP troopers made contact with a female inside the vehicle and said that she matched the description of the suspect. After further investigation, troopers learned that the female was Clerk. She was identified by a state issued driver’s license. She was placed in handcuffs and preliminary charged with the offenses mentioned above. Three juveniles were also in the vehicle at the time of the arrest. They were place in the care of the Department of Children and Family Services.
The victim is currently in stable condition at the hospital.
The sheriff thanks the Grayville Police Department, ISP Zone 8 Investigations, ISP Troop 9 Patrol, ISP Crime Scene, White County EMS and the Edwards County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff also thanks the patrons of the Road Ranger for their help with rendering aid until help arrived.