A repeat violent offender is accused of beating a Mississippi truck stop clerk and attempting to gouge the victim’s eyes out over the price of gas.
Deputies with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 35/55 Truck Stop on Highway 35 in Vaiden early Monday afternoon and discovered that the store’s clerk had been physically beaten. According to the clerk, a man later identified as 40-year-old Charlie Terrell Jones entered the facility and became violent during a dispute over fuel costs.
Jones then allegedly began to beat the clerk mercilessly before exiting the store, retrieving his gun, and returning inside to demand money. The clerk acquiesced, giving the alleged attacker money. Jones fled the scene afterward, but was ultimately apprehended by police at a roadblock just north of Kosciusko. The Attala County Sheriff’s Office and Kosciusko Police Department assisted Carroll County officials in catching Jones.
The clerk was transported to a hospital in nearby Winona, where he was treated for his injuries, including wounds in the back of the head where the suspect had reportedly struck him multiple times. As for Jones, the Yazoo City resident is charged with armed robbery and assault. He is expected to face additional charges of possession of a weapon by a felon and failure to register as a sex offender.
Officials report that Jones has a violent criminal background. He was released from prison on parole after spending 20 years behind bars for sexual battery and kidnapping. Jones is currently housed in the Carroll County Regional Correctional Facility.
