Columbia man sentenced to 24 years in connection with series of armed robberies

Iric Bolden/ASGDC

Iric Bolden/ASGDC

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO)– A Columbia man has been sentenced to 24 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to 3 counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, robbery, and attempted robbery, says the Department of Justice.

Evidence presented to the court showed that over the course of nine days in the fall of 2019, Iric Bolden robbed three Midlands convenience stores while armed with a handgun and attempted to rob another, according to a press release.

Investigators say on Sept. 29, 2019, Bolden entered a gas station on Two Notch Road and pretended to ask the clerk a question, then walked behind the counter and pointed a gun at the clerk.

Bolden is accused of demanding the clerk open the cash register before taking money out of the register, cigarettes from the shelf, and the clerk’s cell phone, which was sitting on the counter.

During the robbery, a customer tried to leave but Bolden detained the customer at gun point as well, say investigators.

After taking the items, Bolden ran from the store.

He is also accused of entering a Marathon Corner Stop located at 1901 Faraway Drive on Sept. 30, 2019, with his gun drawn and a mask over his face.

However, Bolden was frightened by one of the clerks, his mask dropped from his face, and he ran from store, officials say.

On Oct. 3, 2019, Bolden entered the Mini Mart Located at 900 S. Kilbourne Road, walked around as if he was browsing for items and then ran behind the counter and pointed a firearm at the clerk.

He forced the clerk to lay on the ground and took the clerk’s cell phone, money from two cash registers, and cigarettes before leaving the store.

On Oct. 6, 2019, Bolden entered Percival Grocery located at 301 Percival Road, and pulled a firearm from his waistband.

Then, he went behind the counter and demanded the clerk to open the cash register, took money out of the register, cigarettes from the shelf, a cell phone and money from the clerk and ran away from the location.

Law enforcement recovered surveillance footage for all of the incidents and Bolden was arrested by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department. RCSD says Bolden confessed to the robberies.

Prior to these incidents Bolden had multiple convictions for shoplifting and was on probation for strong arm robbery.

A United States district judge sentenced him to 288 months imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of court-ordered supervision.