Vanderbilt man charged with robbery, assault at Sweet Pea’s

A Vanderbilt man was arrested Tuesday and charged for allegedly assaulting a clerk and robbing Sweet Pea’s convenience store last year.
Clifford Wade Colbert, 37, of Pennsylvania Avenue was charged with two counts of robbery and one count each of simple assault, criminal mischief and theft.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed in the case, Colbert reportedly smashed the glass door of the store while wearing a mask and hit the coin machine with a pry bar. The clerk, John Clark, threw a knife at the man, but it bounced off his OD green field jacket. Clark was hit in the face and head with the crow bar when the two men fought over it. The clerk tried to push Colbert, but the suspect spun, causing Clark to fall and hit his head. Colbert allegedly took a $100 from the coin machine. The suspect’s mask came off, revealing a fishnet stocking over his face that did not conceal it. Clark told police he recognized Colbert because he comes into the store and he knows the suspect’s mother.
Clark suffered a lump on his forehead from the pry bar attack and a cut under his eye from falling, according to the affidavit.
Colbert was arraigned Tuesday night before Magisterial District Judge Ronald Haggerty Jr., who set bail at $75,000 in the case. He remains in Fayette County Prison in lieu of bond.