Deputies use fingerprints to ID suspect in Lake Wylie robbery

The suspect in the Tuesday night robbery of the Lake Wylie Mini Mart was identified after he left fingerprints on the store’s counter, officials say.

Law enforcement officers in York County and Gaston County, N.C. are on the lookout for Patrick Arthur English, 20, according to a report from the York County Sheriff’s Office.

Around 8:15 p.m. on Tuesday, a man wearing jeans, sneakers, sunglasses and a “black homemade type mask” walked into the Lake Wylie Mini Mart on S.C. 274 pointing a black pistol and demanding money, store employees said. They also said the suspect had a “swag type walk,” according to a York County Sheriff’s Office report.

The gunman took about $1,200 from the registers and then ran across the parking lot towards the North Carolina state line.

When officers watched the surveillance video, they saw the suspect put this hand down on the counter. They were able to lift fingerprints from that spot and later identify English in a database.

An officer with the Belmont Police told York County officers a similar robbery had been reported in Belmont the night before, except the suspect wasn’t wearing sunglasses and was described as having a “lazy eye.”

English is thought to live in Belmont, N.C. Warrants have been issued for his arrest.

This story was originally published February 13, 2015 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Deputies use fingerprints to ID suspect in Lake Wylie robbery."