On August 5, Michael Thor Dricker, of Roanoke was arrested and charged in connection with the May 23 robbery that took place at Kroger located at 72 Kingston Drive in Daleville. After a thorough investigation, detectives with the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office were able to identify Dricker as the individual who committed the robbery.
On May 23, at 7:22 p.m., the Botetourt County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call from an employee at the Daleville Kroger reporting a robbery. A male suspect approached a cashier within the store, placing a bag on the counter, stating the bag contained a bomb and the detonator was in his front pocket. The man demanded money from the clerk and then fled the store with an undisclosed amount of cash. Deputies arrived within minutes of the call and were informed that the suspect was last seen leaving the parking lot in a gray-colored sedan described by witnesses as possibly being a BMW without a front license plate.
As a precaution, the store was evacuated until the Virginia State Police Explosives Unit could conduct a search of the bag.
Dricker, 46, was indicted and charged by a grand jury on August 2, for threats to bomb, robbery, and use of a hoax explosive device. Dricker is being held without bond in the Botetourt-Craig Regional Jail.