A Carter County man charged with robbing a local pharmacy appeared in General Sessions Court on Friday morning and told the presiding judge he does not plan to fight the charges against him.
Investigators with the Carter County Sheriff’s Office arrested Jason Daniel Stout, 36, of 297 Keenburg Road, on Thursday evening and charged him with aggravated robbery with a firearm in connection with the robbery at the Hampton Pharmacy earlier that same day.
On Friday morning, Stout appeared in Carter County General Sessions Court and spoke briefly with Assistant District Attorney Mark Hill before standing before Judge Keith Bowers Jr.
Hill told the court Stout had waived his right to a preliminary hearing within 10 days and was not requesting the court to appoint him an attorney in the case.
Bowers asked Stout if he intended to hire a lawyer to represent him.
“I really don’t plan to fight it,” Stout replied.
Bowers then cautioned Stout about making statements regarding the case against him while under oath in open court, telling him those statements could later be used against him. Bowers then again asked the man if he intended to hire a lawyer.
“I guess if I need an attorney that would be the route to go,” Stout said.
At the time of Stout’s arrest, his bond was set at $50,000. Bowers left Stout’s bond amount unchanged but did set as a condition of the bond that should Stout be released from jail he not return to Hampton Pharmacy.
“Do not have any contact with the pharmacy or any of its employees in any way,” Bowers said.
Bowers scheduled Stout to return to court on April 11 with an attorney to represent him.
The charges against Stout stem from an investigation into an armed robbery at Hampton Pharmacy, located at 339 Highway 321, in Hampton. According to court documents, shortly before noon on Thursday, pharmacy staff called 911 and reported a man had entered the store with a blue mask covering his face, brandished a weapon and ordered the employees to give him Oxycodone pills.
“The employees filled a bag with the demanded medication, and the man took the pills and fled from the store,” CCSO Investigator Travis Ludlow said. The pharmacists told officers Stout had taken a significant amount of Oxycodone medication from the pharmacy.
Following the robbery, investigators with the Sheriff’s Office quickly released a description of the vehicle witnesses said Stout was driving when he left the pharmacy. Ludlow said the Carter County Emergency Management Agency sent out a broadcast to all emergency responders in the area with a description of the suspect vehicle.
Around 2 p.m. a Bluff City firefighter was traveling north on Highway 19E when he saw a vehicle matching the description of the one Stout had fled in parked at a residence on Keenburg Road and called 911 to report it, Ludlow said.
Deputies and investigators responded to the home at 297 Keenburg Road and knocked on the door, but no one answered. Ludlow obtained a search warrant for the residence, and when the SWAT Team entered the home they found Stout inside.
“While clearing the bedroom on the south end of the house, I saw a plastic bag full of bulk Oxycodone bottles on the bed,” Ludlow said, adding officers detained Stout and read him his Miranda rights. “He agreed to speak to officers and led them outside to a location behind the underpinning on the south side of the house. There I found a black pellet pistol and a plastic bag containing clothing. This clothing appears to be the same clothing I saw on video of the robbery suspect.”