Man waits in lobby for 20 minutes, then robs clerk

COLUMBIA — A man sat in the lobby of the Fairfield Inn Motel for about 20 minutes early Friday morning before robbing the clerk of cash and her car keys, Columbia police said.

A man walked into the motel, located at 2904 Clark Lane, at about 2:45 a.m., told the clerk his vehicle had broken down and asked if he could wait in the lobby until someone came to pick him up, according to a Columbia Police Department news release.

But after waiting in the lobby for about 20 minutes, the man displayed a small-caliber handgun with what police described as a “tarnished” finish and demanded cash. The clerk gave the man an undisclosed amount of money and her car keys, according to the release. The man was last seen driving away from the hotel in the clerk’s 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix.

The suspect was described as a black man in his early to mid-twenties, about 5 feet 7 inches tall, wearing an oversized gray sweatshirt over a black hooded sweatshirt, black pants and a gray knit cap, according to the news release.

Anyone with information may call CrimeStoppers at 875-8477.