A declined credit card early Tuesday morning wound up in a blaze and a manhunt in Wytheville.
According to the Wytheville Police Department, officers were called to the Sheetz convenience store on North 4th Street at 3:30 a.m. regarding an arson.
The department said in a release that a male customer had had his credit card declined, left the store and returned with a gas can. He then poured the gas on the floor and lit it on fire, police said, before leaving the store and driving away.
Police said the store manager put out the fire, but Wytheville Fire and Rescue also responded.
Police, armed with a description of the man and the vehicle he was driving, began the hunt. While the search, which also included deputies from the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office and troopers from the Virginia State Police, it was discovered that the Kangaroo Express on Holston Road had been broken into.
A short time later, a Wytheville Police officer located the unoccupied vehicle parked at Northwinds apartments. Later still, a deputy with the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office spotted the suspect under a tractor-trailer in the Lowe’s parking lot.
After a short standoff, the suspect, who was armed with a hammer, was Tased and taken into custody.
Kyle Wayne Mabe, 40, currently of Wytheville and previously from Clarkston, Michigan, was charged with felony arson, felony burglary, felony destruction of property, misdemeanor destruction of property and two counts of misdemeanor larceny. He is being held without bond at the New River Valley Regional Jail.
Police note that Mabe was out on bond on burglary and possession of Schedule I or II drug charges in in Wytheville from May. Police said more charges could follow.
