Burglary in robber’s past

The Philadelphia man accused of robbing the Pow Wow at gunpoint early last Wednesday morning was out on bond awaiting grand jury in a 2019 house burglary while the owners were at the Neshoba County Fair.

Lakez Deon Greer, 21, of 251 Kelly Street, turned himself in to Philadelphia Police shortly before 10 a.m. on Thursday in connection with the armed robbery the day before about 3:30 a.m. at the Pow Wow convenience store on Highway 16 west.

Neshoba County Sheriff Eric Clark said that he has been charged with two counts of armed robbery.

Justice Court Judge Paul Payne denied Greer bond and he remains in the Neshoba County Detention Center. A social media post seeking the public’s assistance instantly led to a positive identification of the robber, Clark said.

In the August house burglary, the homeowners were at the Fair and returned to find they’d been burglarized. Two guns were stolen and later recovered. A camera in the home caught Green breaking in. 

In the armed robbery, Clark said quick action led to Greer’s arrest.

“I am thankful for the response from the public, Philadelphia Police Department and the deputies who serve us at the Neshoba County’s Sheriff’s Office,” Clark said.

Clark said that during the initial report to Sheriff’s deputies, a caller told authorities that a man, who had been in the store earlier looking around, returned later with a gun and demanded money. Clark said he threatened two employees working in the store.

“He held the cashier at gunpoint, taking money from the register,” Clark said. “He went to the kitchen, where he pointed a gun at the cook demanding the location of the safe. The cook was quick to say that he just started there and did not know. He stole the cook’s cell phone and left the store in a black Nissan car.”

Clark said that early in the investigation, authorities were looking for a black male about six feet tall and wearing a black t-shirt, gray shorts, a blue bandana, and brightly colored tennis shoes. As deputies and investigators collected evidence at the store, they found surveillance video revealing quality photos of the robber and his getaway vehicle.

Clark said they then made their appeal to social media to identify the suspect.

Greer turned himself in to authorities after officers spoke with his mother in their home.

Greer had over $500 in cash from the robbery on him when he was arrested and revealed information about discarded evidence which led deputies back to Highway 16 west, the Sheriff said.

“Tennis shoes and a blue bandana were recovered from the roadside as he described,” Clark said.

Investigators later recovered the gun and a bag of clothes from a residence on Martin Luther King Drive.

Greer was in the jail docket in May of 2018 charged with failure to pay and burglary-dwelling house, but at press time the disposition of that case was unknown.

If you have any information on crimes in Neshoba County, please call 601-656-1414 or East Mississippi Crime Stoppers at 1-855-485-TIPS (8477), Sheriff Clark said.