Monongah Circle K robbed again

Clerk fired after last holdup

Monongah’s Circle K got robbed again in the wee hours of the morning. Hopefully, the clerk won’t get fired this time.

Marion County Sheriff’s Deputy pursued the vehicle on U.S. 19 but lost it in the O'Dell's Knob area about 3 a.m. 

The suspect is a white male, approximately 5'6" with a thin build.

 

After last year’s robbery, Circle K corporate fired clerk Randy Ramsey, a military veteran with a pregnant fiancé, for having $20 too much in the register.

 

Randy's mother is Christine Yost, a North Marion grad who works at St. Barbara’s Nursing Home.

I asked Amber for an update since Randy got fired by Circle K.

Amber, who was pregnant when the robbery happened, wrote:

“We had a boy...his name is Asher Lee and he is 4 months today!!! Randy is working at JAK for now. Also doing whatever he can extra work-wise. I am in nursing school; getting paid to do it.

“That's crazy, another robbery; not even 5 months.”

Crazy is right, Amber. I never heard anything close to this when I was growing up in Monongah.

Car, jewelry stolen on Pike Street

A Fairmont man stole a car and jewelry in Mill Fall Pike Street area home, but was arrested later in the stolen vehicle.

I couldn’t find out whose home was burglarized and car taken.

Matthew Ball, 24, of 210 Marion St., Fairmont, was arrested by the Marion County Sheriff's Department and charged with one felony count of nighttime burglary, one felony count of grand larceny and one felony count of conspiracy, according to the criminal complaint.

Monongah uproar over robbed Circle K clerk’s firing

Monongah is in an uproar over someone at Circle K corporation headquarters firing the clerk who was robbed at 1:30 a.m. by someone covered from head to toe with clothing and a mask, in all this hot weather.

Fired Circle K clerk Randy Ramsey & fiancée Amber Efaw

The Monongah Circle K manager was against the firing of Randy Ramsey, but the corporate suits decided otherwise.

The reason reported on Facebook was that Randy had $20 too much in his cash register when Circle K was robbed.

Randy's fiancée, Amber Efaw, wrote:

“I am the fiancee of the man who got robbed. First, we would like to thank Jeff and everyone else for their kind words and support. It really means a lot. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

“Unfortunately, my fiance had been the person on midnight shift the night Circle K was robbed! There was no tie-in with the robbery! Unfortunately, he just had bad luck that night!

“He literally was a couple $ over in the register that they allow on midnight shift even though he had customers right before that. On midnight they only allow a total of a certain amount and, when he was robbed, he was a few dollars over.

“The managers there loved my fiance and even told me he was a great employee. It was the corporate office and director that had the final decision and said he had to be terminated for it even though the manager fought to keep him.

“Also we are so upset people see us all the time, we are just starting our family out. He is a veteran and has already been through enough and seen awful things in the military. This is how a veteran with a pregnant fiancee and unborn child gets treated?

“Also, he got terminated from a job he was keeping to be close to his family and unborn child and because it was convenient for him because we don't have a vehicle. What a terrible way for a company to treat its employee!”

Amber later added:

“Thank you everyone for all everyone has done. Randy Ramsey and I couldn't have asked to live in a better town than Monongah. This town is a great town and we can't wait for our baby boy to grow up here. We both really appreciate all the support and everything everyone is doing.

“Randy doesn't really do the social media as much as I do. But I tell him everything everyone says and posts and inform him of everything."

Amber also has a 10-year-old son who is with his father. She is from Riverside, New Jersey.
She wrote: “My family means everything to me. Mess with them, mess with me!”

Randy's mother, Christine Yost, a North Marion grad who works at St. Barbara’s Nursing Home and lives in Monongah, wrote:

o    ”I am the mother of the of the guy who got robbed & fired. I really appreciate all the kind words & everything else you have done for my son & girlfriend. It was awful that my son got fired for a few dollars over in his register.

o    “I know he was a good & hard-working man for them. I know he was never late; never, never missed & picked up days when they needed him.

o    “He was well-liked by my employees at St. Barbara’s, too. I just hope he can get his job back or find something close till he gets on his feet. They have been struggling & trying to do what they can.

o    “Also, thanks everybody for their donations as they are expecting their 1st child in 3 weeks."

The drive for money to help out the clerk and his girlfriend, who is 8 months pregnant, has been driven by North Marion grad and Monongah resident Jeff VanMeter, who wrote: “We as a community have got to find a way to help this young man.”

Krista Frederick writes that another employee got fired for a 50-cent overage in the register.
 

Barbara Fleming Marsh, Class of 1947, wrote:

“I called for a boycott for KT (Circle K). For some of you I know this is impossible; for others like myself, a mere inconvenience.

“I do hope you'll think of the money we put into the hands of this company. I'll gladly put their extra $20 back in their pocket if they will allow the Fairmont Times to take a picture of it being returned by a town official.

“Think if this was your son, a young man who was willing to lay down his life for you, expecting his own child soon. Losing his lifeline for a paltry $20. I felt that we were so fortunate to have KT in our midst. Now, however, I hope I'm not the only customer they lose.

“Do unto others . . . ring a bell?”

 

Alimentation Couche-Tard, based in Laval, Quebec, Canada, owns 6,050 stores in the United States spread over 41 states under the Circle K and Kangaroo Express names.

The Monongah store is under Alimentation’s Great Lakes Region that has 463 corporate stores and 119 affiliated stores.

If you want to start a phone campaign, the Alimentation headquarters phone is (800) 361-2612. Be civil and courteous, but be outraged that someone who risked his life for America has been treated so shabbily.

Circle K corporation suits have not responded publicly.

Circle K on U.S. 19 in Monongah; Methodist Church on left

Armed robbery at Circle K

The Circle K in Monongah, bordered by U.S. 19 and Jackson Street in the building that once housed Joe Hanus’ garage, was robbed at 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Marion County deputies report.

The address is 666 Pike Street. I didn’t know that Camden Avenue ended where Pike Street intersects with U.S. 19, but apparently it does.

The photo is a Google Earth version I got from the Internet. I see the Methodist Church across Jackson Street from the Circle K. I don’t what happened to the building that had Joe Hanus’ garage, PNA Tavern and John Hanus Grocery. But the Circle K building looks much smaller than I remember it, so maybe they tore down the building of my youth and replaced it with the Circle K and some houses between the Circle K and what used to be the Monzo Grocery, which was across the street from the P.P. Shenasky Grocery.

Deputies said a black male got away with an undisclosed amount of money. He did not show a weapon but deputies said he indicated he had one.

Neighborhood Watch may return to Monongah

Monongah may re-institute the Neighborhood Watch program that was dissolved.

Monongah Police Chief Rick Barnhart has organized a town hall meeting for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18 to discuss the watch program. He wants residents to show up and share their ideas.

While Monongah is safer than most towns, there are home invasions and having neighbors keep an eye out and phone Chief Barnhart to deal with it is a good idea.

Since Barnhart replaced Chris Veltri as police chief in August 2014, leaving his position as Salem police lieutenant, he’s taken a more aggressive role in helping Monongah residents.