PONCA CITY, Okla. (KFOR) – The Ponca City Police Department (PCPD) has made an arrest in a unique December 2022 convenience store robbery.

PCPD investigators have been searching for the identity of an armed robber since the crime occurred around 5 a.m. Dec. 4, 2022, at a gas station convenience store on W. Highland.

Surveillance photo of convenience store robbery
Image courtesy City of Ponca City.

Officials say the suspect robbed the store with small revolver.

Then, on Jan. 3, 2023, Ponca City officers were called to a storage unit facility on N. Union, where they found a male and female inside.

“The male hid from officers upon their arrival and the female was uncooperative,” said Ponca City officials.

Officers eventually located the man inside one of the storage units and arrested 25-year-old Jerid Dustin Smith for multiple warrants and obstructing an officer.

Smith was transported to the Ponca City Police Department where he was booked into jail.

Mugshot of Jerid Smith
Jerid D. Smith. Image courtesy Ponca City Police Department

Once in custody, PCPD detectives interviewed Smith about the December robbery, of which he was a person of interest.

Smith confessed and told investigators he committed the robbery so he and his girlfriend could afford to pay for their storage shed at the facility where he was found.

Smith has been charged with Obstructing an Officer, Bringing Contraband into a Jail, and First Degree Robbery in addition to his warrants.