Police are going through more than 4,000 tag numbers of Kia Sportage sport utility vehicles registered in Florida to try identify the owner. The vehicle was used in an attempted robbery of the Village Grocery in Roanoke Rapids last month and a convenience store robbery in Wilson Tuesday.

A smaller image of the vehicle.

Captain Andy Jackson of the Roanoke Rapids Police Department said investigators believe the tags are from Florida and the last number is 4. The first letter on the tag may be an “M.”

Police are working to enhance surveillance footage of the vehicle and have thus far identified orange in the tag. Law enforcement across the Eastern Seaboard have been notified about the vehicle.

That the people identified in the video tape are now linked to two crimes in the region makes Jackson believe they will probably commit more crimes. “It’s apparent they don’t have any money or they would have gotten a lot further.”

Jackson said motel and hotel owners should contact law enforcement if they see the vehicle and anyone who knows who owns the vehicle or can identify the white woman and black man in video footage should call law enforcement.

It is believed the woman goes into the stores to case them and then reports to the man before he enters to rob the store. “I think she did the intelligence work,” Jackson said.

Sergeant John Slaughter of the Wilson Police Department said on Tuesday at approximately 6:15 p.m. officers were dispatched to Griffin’s Food Store located at 2402 Nash Street about an armed robbery that just occurred.  Officers arrived on scene and learned that a black male suspect entered the store and approached the counter.

The suspect then displayed a gun and demanded money from the clerk. The clerk handed over money from the cash register and the suspect then left the store.

Witnesses saw the suspect get into a gold or champagne color SUV, later identified as a Kia Sportage, driven by a white female that was parked near Car Quest, which is located near the incident location.

The suspect is described as a black male, wearing a black hooded jacket, blue jeans and black shoes or boots.

During the investigation, detectives were able to view the surveillance video, which shows the female that was driving the suspect vehicle.

The video shows the female entered the store an hour before the robbery.  The female suspect is described as a white female, with dark hair, black coat, white shirt, dark pants and dark shoes.

Slaughter noted Wilson and Roanoke Rapids are working on the case.

He said images from surveillance video from both the incident in Roanoke Rapids and the Wilson incident clearly show that these are the same two suspects.

Similar to the Wilson incident, the white female entered the Village Grocery at the Highway 48 and Jackson Street extension an hour before the male suspect attempted to rob the business.

If anyone has any information regarding these incidents or recognizes the suspects from the surveillance images are asked to contact the Wilson Police Department at 252-399-2323 or Crime Stoppers at 252-243-2255.

In the March 21 Roanoke Rapids case, police are trying to determine whether the vehicle, either champagne or silver, had North Carolina or other out of state license tags, including Florida.

The vehicle drove around in the storage unit lot and dropped the suspect off. It hid between the storage units and picked up the man right at the entrance to the storage units as he came up the hill.

The suspect in the morning robbery attempt pulled the trigger of his gun three times as a convenience store clerk tried to comply with his demands.

The gunman apparently got nervous when the gun did not fire and fled the Village Grocery without any money.

The attempt occurred around 11:45 a.m. when the man entered the store wearing a black hooded jacket and black pants.

He pulled out a silver handgun that appeared to be a revolver and demanded money. As the clerk tried to comply, the man pulled the trigger three times. The gun, however, did not fire.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444, Detective Corey Griffin at 252-326-1233 or Detective Jeff Baggett at 252-326-3941.