Prior arrests...

At about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday May 23 Greenville Police responded to a robbery alarm at the Wilco-Hess service station, 3000 Stantonsburg road.  The clerk told police officers that a suspect came in to the store armed with a knife.  The suspect threatened the clerk and then took cigarettes.

Officers from A-Platoon set up a perimeter, and a police dog began tracking the suspect toward Park West Drive.  The police dog took officers directly to 1285 Park West Drive, where police located the suspect, Michael Wayne Nelson.

Officers recovered stolen cigarettes from the suspect’s apartment, along with the clothes Nelson wore when he committed the robbery.   Detective Stanton from the Major Crimes Unit responded to assist with the investigation.

Nelson was taken to the police department where he was debriefed and processed.   He was then arrested and charged with one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon.

He was jailed at the Pitt County Detention Center under a $100,000 secured bond.

Nelson has prior arrests for larceny, burglary, and obtaining property by false pretense.