Owasso Police: Payless Clerk Hit In Head With Pistol During Robbery

One man is in custody after an armed robbery at the Owasso Smith Farm and Market shopping center, 9010 North 121st East Avenue.

According to Owasso police, officers responded to a panic alarm at a Payless in the shopping center around 10:00 Wednesday morning.

Officers said when they arrived there was no clerk and could hear the fire exit alarm at the back of the store. They cleared the store and found the clerk in the back.

According to Lieutenant Nick Boatman, the clerk told officers she was robbed. She gave officers a brief description of the suspect and said at least one was armed.

Officers searched the alley behind the store and found one man hiding inside a dumpster; that man was identified as 26-year-old Howard Jones II. Officers also found a loaded .380 pistol believed used in the robbery.

Boatman said there may have been a second suspect as the clerk said she heard a second voice. Officers set up a perimeter around the shopping center and used K9 officers in the search but no one else was found.

Right now, officers money take from the store is still missing, leading them to believe a second suspect escaped.

The clerk was taken to the hospital for head trauma. She told officers she was hit in the head with a gun.

The case is still under investigation and Jones is being questioned by police.

Jail records show he's being booked on several complaints including, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and kidnapping.