The manhunt intensifies in Lithonia as police step up efforts to apprehend Steven Tyrone Priar II, 20, allegedly the masked figure behind a violent armed robbery. According to FOX 5 Atlanta, the suspect is accused of robbing Jay-Way Supermarket on Feb. 8, during which he is said to have assaulted two clerks with a handgun before fleeing with cash and other items.
Standing at 5-feet-4-inches tall and weighing 145 pounds, Priar, whose warrant for armed robbery has been issued, remains at large, with Detective Sgt. Ward of the Lithonia Police Department leading the investigation, witnesses or those with knowledge of Priar’s location are urged to come forward by contacting 470-699-8684 or 770-482-8947.
The unsettling ordeal left both store owners, Ricky Sharma and his wife, battered and traumatized, according to WSB-TV, the Sharma's recalled the harrowing experience, "It was... Can’t even describe it," Ricky Sharma said in the aftermath of the attack, with additional details revealing the couple was assaulted before the perpetrator stole from the register and made his escape.
Insights into the suspect’s identity emerged after diligent investigative work linked Priar to a former employment stint at Grady Memorial Hospital, now the efforts concentrate on locating the young man who has delved into a life of crime, leaving behind a trail of violence and the palpable fear of reoccurrence until he is apprehended he remains a threat to the community Sharma and his wife embodying the very real human cost of Priar’s desperate gambit for cash.
