Grocery store robber heads to prison
A Holbrook man was sentenced Thursday to 2½ to 5 years in prison for robbing Rush’s grocery store in Rogersville last year.
Curtis Matthew Vanbuskirk, 26, pleaded guilty in October to robbery, terroristic threats, theft and DUI.
State police said Vanbuskirk entered the store about 9:50 p.m. July 27 and handed the store owner, Judy Rush, a note demanding money. In the note, he threatened to shoot her if she did not comply.
Rush struggled with Vanbuskirk, who then threatened to shoot both her and a child who was standing behind her if she did not give him the cash, according to police.
Vanbuskirk grabbed $100 from the cash register and fled the store.
He was pulled over 10 days later, and according to court documents, Vanbuskirk told police he had used heroin 30 minutes prior.
President Judge Farley Toothman also sentenced Vanbuskirk to one year of probation, during which he will have to stay away from drugs and alcohol.
He also will have to pay a $2,000 fine plus court costs, complete 50 hours of community service and participate in five sessions of a DUI driving school.
Vanbuskirk was given credit for about five months served in jail.
Vanbuskirk’s girlfriend, Michelle L. Cain, 26, of Cameron, W.Va., who drove Vanbuskirk to the store that day, also was charged by state police with conspiracy to commit the same crimes.
She was sentenced to an accelerated rehabilitative disposition program Feb. 8.