LENOIR, NC (August 13, 2018) — Granite Falls woman will spend at least four years in prison after a Caldwell County jury found her guilty of robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping during Caldwell County Superior Court last week.
The jury returned a guilty verdict for 50-year-old Judy Potter Norris on Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2018, and the Honorable Hugh B. Lewis, Superior Court Judge from Mecklenburg County, sentenced her to an active prison term of four to six years.
Norris will serve that sentence in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
An employee of a Granite Falls convenience store was in the parking lot on Jan. 19, 2017, when Norris pulled into the parking lot wearing a mask, sweatshirt and camouflage pants. Upon exiting the vehicle, she pointed a .22-caliber handgun at the employee, told him he was being robbed and forced him into the store bathroom, locking him in from the outside.
The defendant then walked to the cash register and took money from it along with rolled coins found under the counter.
The employee had his cell phone with him and contacted law enforcement. Officers from Granite Falls Police Department arrived and were able to watch video surveillance of the robbery with managers of the store. They were able to help investigators identify Norris as a suspect by her walk, build, blonde hair protruding from the mask and the fact she was not wearing shoes, which she was known to do when coming into the store on other occasions.
The vehicle driven to the store by the defendant was found at her residence along with the mask, sweatshirt and items taken from the store.
Det. Clint Ferguson investigated the case for the Granite Falls Police Department. Andrew Jennings handled prosecution for the District Attorney’s Office.