Neosho man charged with armed robberies of Dollar General stores

A Neosho man has been charged in connection with armed robberies of two Newton County Dollar General stores and is being held without bond in the Newton County Jail.

Richard Mark Hatfield, 62, explained his procedure for determining whether he would rob a Dollar General store, according to the probable cause statement.

Richard stated he would go into the stores on the day of the robberies to see if women were working. Richard stated he would rather rob the stores with women employees rather than men because he was afraid a male might fight back.

Hatfield's first Dollar General robbery took place November 19 at 12023 K Highway, the probable cause statement said.

Deputies learned that a man had entered the store armed with. a handgun and a bat Two employees were working· at the business and advised the man had poínted the gun at them near the registers and demanded money.

Employees émptied the cash drawers and complied with the suspect, The suspect; was described as wearing a camo jacket, camo winter hat, jeans, and black tennis shoes with white soles.

The suspect made a statement to the employees that there were three men a¢ross the street with radios and guns and they would be shot if they called 911.

Furthermore the employees witnessed a small Ford Ranger green in color leaving the parking lot post robbery.

The same procedure was followed during the second Dollar General robbery on November 21 in Racine.

Newton County deputies were able to get surveillance footage from Four State Trucks of the vehicle being used by the robber.

Two deputies were conducting surveillance on the Granby Dollar General store Thursday when they spotted the dark green Ford Ranger. The vehicle pulled into the parking lot, circled it, then went east on U. S. 60.

The deputies pulled the vehicle over and saw the driver had black paint covering his face. Wallace took off, according to the probable cause statement, but drove down an embankment between Hillcrest and Beaver Avenue north of 60.

 I saw that the vehicle was disabled and began making commands for the suspect to make himself known, I heard a male voice yell at me stating, "I have a 9mm, if you come down here, I will shoot you." 

After checking the VIN number of the vehicle, deputies located the owner, who said he sold it to Hatfield in 2021.

The deputies located Hatfield at his brother's home in Granby. According to the probable cause statement, he told his brother he had been beaten up, the Ford Ranger had been stolen and his face was black because he had fallen into tar. 

Deputies found Hatfield in the shower "scrubbing his face rapidly" in an effort to remove the paint.

Hatfield told deputies the weapon he used during the robberies was a BB gun and he had thrown it away, according to the probable cause statement. The weapon was later recovered.

Hatfield is being held without bond. A bond reduction hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. December 4 in Newton County Circuit Court.