incident still on the loose

By BETH LAKEY

Staff Writer

Authorities are still looking for the second suspect in the Huk-A-Buk Pit Bar-B-Que robbery and shooting that left a Pike County man facing life-threatening injuries.

Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas said Derrick Calhoun, 19, of Ramer in the China Grove Community was arrested late Friday, but another suspect is still on the loose.

Calhoun has been charged with attempted murder and robbery, first degree, in connection with the incident that occurred about a week ago.

Roy Faulkner, the owner of Huk-A-Buk Pit, was shot around 7:30 p.m., Sept. 17 as he was closing the restaurant for the night.

According to Thomas, the last customer left the barbecue restaurant on U.S. 231 at Pike County Road 17 between 7:30 p.m. and 7:40 p.m. Faulkner was "turning off the lights to close for the evening" when two black males wearing masks entered the restaurant.

"They demanded cash and took the cash bag which contained an undisclosed amount of money," Thomas said. "They also took the female’s purse and demanded keys to the vehicles parked outside. Faulkner gave them his truck keys and his ring of keys and they snatched the phone out of the wall."

It was at that point, Thomas said, Faulkner was shot with an SKS assault rifle.

"After shooting Faulkner and severely wounding him they fled the scene," he said. Faulkner’s wife, then, ran into the parking lot and fired several shots to attract attention from motorists on 231. When no one stopped she went back inside the building and set off the burglar alarm, bringing help.

Faulkner transported by Haynes Ambulance to Edge Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and has been listed in critical condition since the incident.

Calhoun was taken into custody around 9 p.m., Friday and confessed to his involvement in the crimes and is being held in the Pike County Jail under $2 million bond.

Deputies recovered the SKS assault rifle believed to have been used in the crime from a creek in Montgomery County. They also recovered the keys reported stolen, which has been of some relief to the family, Thomas said.

Warrants have been issued for a second suspect in the case, which is still under investigation.

"This has been an intense investigation and involved long hours," Thomas said.

Since the robbery and shooting at Huk-A-Buk, Thomas said he has been asked on several occasions about a vehicle with a Montgomery County tag being stopped in Troy.

"There was a car stopped on the bypass in Troy with Montgomery County plates," he said. "There were two subjects and one fled during the investigation, but it was totally unrelated to the Huk-A-Buk investigation."

Thomas expressed appreciation to those agencies that helped the Pike County Sheriff’s Department ­ the District Attorney’s Office, Violent Crimes Task Force in Montgomery, the Troy Police Department and the Department of Public Safety.