Hard economic times, increased prescription drug dependency in society and Sweetwater's location on Interstate 75 has made a variety of businesses in the town the subject of armed holdups during the last few years.

But in many cases, police have been able to quickly capture the robbers and fortunately in most cases, the robbery victims have not suffered serious injuries.

While it is difficult to control the forces that might lead someone to be desperate enough to rob a store at gunpoint, Sweetwater Police Chief Eddie Byrum said keeping the victims safe during a robbery and the quick capture of several suspects over the years is not just good luck.
According to Byrum, there are several things businesses can do to increase their safety and SPD provides a free safety class that teaches businesses how to protect themselves.
"We have had good participation from all of our businesses," he said.

The police chief said SPD usually puts on the classes for groups of the same type of businesses, including banks, pharmacies and convenient stores, but the classes are open to any one.
If necessary, SPD can present the class for individual businesses if they are unable to attend a group session.

You can call SPD at 337-6151 for more information.
Byrum said the Wil-Sav crew that was robbed for pain pills at gunpoint last week had gone through the safety class. The police chief said the employees did several things right that increased their safety and aided SPD in the quick capture of the suspect.

Byrum said the crew remained calm and complied with the robber's demands. He also said the robbery victims were able to give the 911 Center and police an excellent description of the suspect and his getaway vehicle.

That valuable information helped Sgt. John Brewster, who was nearby investigating a forgery case, to very quickly identify the suspect, stopping him still in the parking lot of the holdup site.
The SPD chief said often times just general awareness and alertness by employees can aide safety.
Simple things like noticing someone wearing dark sunglasses on a cloudy day or a hooded sweatshirt in good weather can be signs that something is not quite right and a robbery is about to occur.
The Wil-Sav robber was only after drugs, officers said.

Byrum said officers have long worried about cutbacks in TennCare and other medical programs forcing drug addicts into desperate means to get the pills they are addicted to.
He said the suspect in last week's robbery, 56-year-old Edgar Fraker of Knoxville, chose Sweetwater for his robbery attempt because of the town's location on the interstate.

tommy.millsaps@advocateanddemocrat.com | 337-7101