Fears haunt victim of August robbery

Anna Monk attended a bond hearing Friday for the man accused of robbing her at gunpoint with the hope he would be kept behind bars.

Monk, 32, operates Corky's Lawnmower Service on Camp Road on James Island. On Aug. 18, a man with a pistol walked into the store and demanded money. Ever since that day, her life has been turned upside down, she said Friday.

'I have been going to that store since I was 11,' she said. 'I always felt safe there. I used to let my kids come there and play.'

No more. Since the robbery, she is afraid to be in the store by herself. They close the business whenever her husband leaves. She won't let her kids visit anymore.

Her husband, Dean, has been extra vigilant since the robbery. About a week after their business was robbed, he heard a woman scream as he was leaving Gold's Gym on Folly Road. 'There were two women from the Dollar Tree store who were making their night deposit at the bank,' he said. 'It was the same M.O., a man with a gun, he was waiting in the bushes for them to make their deposit.'

Thinking it might be the same man who robbed his store, he followed the robber, talking to police on his cell phone the entire time, but the gunman got away, he said.

Though it took months to find a suspect, the Monks said they were pleased with the Charleston County sheriff's detectives and their efforts.

A witness to the robbery at Corky's saw the gunman discard a blue T-shirt as he was running away, Monk said. The T-shirt was tested for DNA, and results came back this week.

Deputies arrested a James Island man Thursday based on that evidence, according to court records.

Anthony Lavonce Criswell, 21, of Seacroft Road is charged with armed robbery. He is jailed on $100,000 bail set by Magistrate Alvin Bligen.

Anna Monk stood up and spoke at the bond hearing. 'I am here to make sure it is known there is a victim,' she said. 'The gun was pointed at my face. He came into my shop.'

Criswell denied robbing anyone and said someone used his T-shirt to leave the wrong DNA at the scene of the crime.

'I have cooperated with the police,' he told Bligen. 'We have developed a plan to bring in the person who used my shirt. I have no reason to rob anybody.'

Bligen ordered that Criswell, if he is released, refrain from contacting the Monks or going within a block of their home.