Attempted robbery in Augusta sparked string of stick-ups

By: Tony Gonzalez | News Virginian
Published: June 09, 2009

STAUNTON — When Brian Brubaker attempted to rob Ladd Convenience store last June, his unarmed, towel-covered hand didn’t intimidate a pistol-wielding employee.

The Crimora man fled, cashless but undeterred, authorities said. Within the month, he would rob, at knifepoint, six store clerks in three counties before his arrest in the bathroom of a Harrisonburg car dealership.

With a guilty plea Monday to attemped robbery at the convenience store, Brubaker, 42, completed his tour of pleadings in Augusta, Greene and Rockingham counties. He is serving an 11-year Greene County sentence for three stickups and awaits sentencing on all other convictions.

According to Augusta County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Thomas Knoll:

Brubaker approached a Ladd employee June 6, 2008, with a towel over his hand, threatening to kill the clerk’s wife, who Brubaker claimed was being held hostage at her home. The employee called a co-worker for help. That man pulled a pistol on Brubaker, asking: “What is it again that you wanted?”

Brubaker fled, Knoll said.

In court, Brubaker admitted his guilt but discounted Knoll’s account as “not anywhere near” what happened. He did not elaborate.

After his failed attempt, Brubaker went on a stickup spree that he later told an officer was an addiction, according to court testimony.

On June 13, Brubaker wielded a knife and made a threat in a “low voice” before taking off with cash from the Augusta County Co-op Farm Bureau in Staunton.

On June 16, the low voice and knife surfaced at Cracker Barrel in Harrisonburg. Then again the next day, when Brubaker hit Bootville, Crawford Saddlery and Food Lion in Ruckersville, where he pulled in more than $800.

Authorites arrested Brubaker on June 21 in the bathroom of Joe Bowman Auto Plaza, just minutes after a robbery at the nearby Tractor Supply Co. in Harrisonburg.

Public records and court testimony show Brubaker, a contractor, was dogged by financial problems, but had no history of violent crime. He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in December 2002, then pleaded guilty to construction, check and money fraud in 2003. In October 2007 the Virginia Board for Contractors revoked his license.

He is being held at Rockingham Regional Jail.