COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- A man with a gun threatened to kill the woman working at a fireworks stand during a robbery Tuesday morning in Colonial Heights. Police arrested the man less than an hour after the robbery. He initially approached the fireworks stand, along the 2600 block of Boulevard, at about 10 a.m. Then he went back to his car.
"When he comes back, he comes back with a handgun," the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said. "He tells me 'don't fidget, don't make any movements, get the cash and give me your cell phone.'"
The man wanted her cell phone so she could not call 911, police said. The woman handed over the money and her phone. She also offered him an iPad, but he declined.
"He told me to sit down and don't move. 'If you move I'm going to shoot you - I'll come back to kill you,'" she said the gunman threatened.
After a few minutes, the gunman left and the woman ran for help. She was able to provide police with a description of the man and his getaway vehicle.
Nelson Tindall Jr., 34, was charged with armed robbery, use of a firearm, and possession of a stolen vehicle. (PHOTO: Wayne Covil)
A Chesterifeld Police officer near Virginia State University spotted the vehicle in question. The man inside, 34-year-old Nelson Tindall Jr., a homeless man from Richmond, was arrested and charged with armed robbery, use of a firearm, and possession of a stolen vehicle.
