Motel clerk says robber threatened her with butter knife

Rapid City Journal

Journal staff 

Monday, June 29, 2009

Rapid City police say they have a suspect in custody after an attempted robbery about 6 p.m. Sunday at the Howard Johnson Express Inn, 950 North Street.

The front desk clerk told police a man pointed a butter knife at her and asked her for money. When she refused, the man left the hotel, walking west, police said

The clerk gave police a detailed description of the man. Police searched the area, and about 7 p.m., an officer noticed a man matching the description of the robber standing outside an apartment in the 900 block of Fillmore Street, just north of the hotel. Police recovered a knife they believe was used in the attempted robbery.

Police arrested Robert Lee McKinney, 34, of Rapid City. He has been charged with first-degree robbery and is in custody at Pennington County Jail.