ATTEMPTED ARMED ROBBERY LEADS TO SIX-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR SPARTANBURG MAN

A Spartanburg man received a six-year prison sentence this morning after he admitted to trying to rob his employer.

Dracey Lydell Thompson, 34, of 403 New Hope Park Drive, pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery before Circuit Judge Roger Couch. Thompson received a 12-year prison sentence that was suspended to six years of service and three years of probation.

Thompson, an employee of the Denny’s restaurant on Reidville Road, admitted to going to the Denny’s restaurant in Boiling Springs on Aug. 8, 2003 and trying to take money at gunpoint. Thompson was wearing his work uniform when he entered the business about 9:35 p.m. and proceeded to the office in the back of the restaurant. He pointed a semi-automatic pistol at the head of the manager and demanded money, Deputy Solicitor Donnie Willingham said.

When the manager told Thompson she could not open the safe, Thompson threatened to shoot her. When she explained that she was new to the job and could not open the safe, Thompson left the restaurant.

The store’s surveillance cameras recorded Thompson inside the business. A sheriff’s deputy who works as a part-time security guard for the restaurant chain identified Thompson as the suspect, Willingham said.

Thompson will serve 85 percent of the prison sentence before he is eligible for release.