Martinsburg man charged in shooting of grocery store owner

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — A Martinsburg man was charged Wednesday night with robbery and malicious wounding stemming from the Wednesday afternoon shooting of the owner of Lupita’s Grocery store on North Queen Street in Martinsburg.

Clyde Sylvester Patterson III, 59, of 125 N. Queen St. was being held Thursday night at Eastern Regional Jail near Martinsburg on a $120,000 bond after he was arrested Wednesday at about 7:30 p.m. and charged about three hours later with the two felony offenses, the city police department said.

Guadalupe Bustillos, 64, was shot in the face at her downtown store at 149 N. Queen St. in the suspected robbery, which was reported at 4:37 p.m., police said.

Bustillos was in critical, but stable condition Thursday at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., and police said she identified the defendant as the man who robbed and shot her.

When police entered the store, they found Bustillos on the floor and the store’s cash register still sitting on the counter, court records said.

The drawer was open, but there only was loose change left in the register, records said.

“A black Cobra .38 Special revolver was also sitting on the counter next to the register,” Martinsburg Police Department Detective Cpl. J.D. Luciano said in a complaint filed in Berkeley County (W.Va.) Magistrate Court. “It had one spent round.”

Bustillos, who appeared to suffer a single gunshot wound to the face, still was conscious when police arrived at the business, court records said.

Emergency-medical personnel took Bustillos to Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg, and she then was flown to the Northern Virginia hospital, police said.

Surveillance video footage from a nearby church captured images of a black male wearing blue jeans, a black winter cap, face covering and blue latex-style gloves going into the store and then leaving at the time of the robbery, Luciano said in his complaint.

Martinsburg Police Department Patrol Officer Daniel North subsequently recognized the individual in the video footage as someone with whom he had previous contact, court records said.

A review of North’s body-camera video footage revealed that the man appeared to be wearing the same shoes in both videos, records said.

Patterson later was found in the bedroom of his apartment at 125 N. Queen St. after a woman identified as his girlfriend answered the door, records said.

In addition to loose currency in the bed with him, police noticed a pair of shoes in plain view that matched the suspected robber, as well as blue latex-style gloves on a desk and blue jeans on the bed.

The gun has been sent to the West Virginia State Police Forensic Laboratory for examination, police said.

Patterson, who declined to give a statement to police, only said that he had been at the Martinsburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center earlier Wednesday.

In addition to recovering the apparent matching clothing at the apartment, police also seized $175 in cash and other evidence, Martinsburg Police Department Chief Maury Richards said Thursday in a news release.

“This was a very serious crime, but the quick response of citizens, responding officers and emergency-medical personnel saved Ms. Bustillos’ life,” Richards said. “The level of police professionalism and cooperation with our downtown citizens, business and faith-based community was amazing.”

Though “very tragic,” Richards emphasized that the incident was isolated and the offender no longer is a threat to the community.

Patterson’s arrest comes a little more than two months after he was charged with threatening to commit a terrorist act, disorderly conduct, public intoxication and obstructing an officer stemming from an incident near the 100 block of East King Street, where he was found Oct. 9 with open containers of alcohol, court records said.

Upon his arrest in connection with that incident, police alleged that Patterson began to threaten officers, saying “before he leaves this Earth, he’s going to shoot a couple of us cops,” North said in a complaint. Court records didn’t list a fixed address for Patterson at the time of the October arrest.

In a subsequent magistrate court appearance in October, Patterson was placed on two years of unsupervised probation after he pleaded guilty to single counts of obstructing an officer and battery in connection with a separate May incident at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, court records said.

A one-year jail sentence was suspended, and the felony charge of terrorist threats, as well as misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and public intoxication, were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, records said.

“The Martinsburg Police Department will continue to provide dedicated downtown foot patrol with. ... North and Bill Parks,” Richards said Thursday in his news release. “The safety and security of every Martinsburg resident, family and business remains our department’s top priority.”

Lupita’s Grocery Inc., which was registered with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office in May 2008, is situated in the heart of the downtown area near the police department between East Martin and East Burke streets and about a block from City Hall.

Patrol Officer Scott Shelton and Cpl. Quenton Burner were the first officers to arrive at the scene, Richards said.

A candlelight vigil for Bustillos was held Thursday night in front of St. John’s Lutheran Church, which is across the street from the grocery store.