Cape Girardeau man charged in attempted store robbery

A Cape Girardeau man arrested Sunday night in connection to a holdup attempt at a local discount store saw formal charges filed against him Monday.

Phil V. Mattingly, 44, was charged with first-degree attempted robbery and armed criminal action, felonies that carry a maximum sentence of 22 years in prison if he's convicted. Mattingly was being held Monday afternoon at the Cape Girardeau City Jail on a $100,00 bond, though a jailer said Mattingly was expected to be taken to the county jail by today.

According to police, Mattingly tried to rob a cashier at Dollar General, 64. S. Plaza Way, with a knife Sunday night, but fled without any money when another employee returned from a cigarette break. Police say he also threatened the second cashier with a knife after she followed him when he fled.

Patrolman Darrin Sides, who had been in the store 10 minutes before the incident, responded to the store, he said in a probable-cause statement. As he looked in the store's vicinity, Sides said he heard other officers had stopped a suspect who matched a description given by one of the cashiers.

The cashier was taken to the location where Mattingly was being detained by police, Sides said, but the cashier said she was unsure if he was the same man who pulled out a knife and demanded money. Sides said he took the cashier back to the store and was told by another officer that a review of the store's security footage showed Mattingly did try to rob the store.

After the second cashier identified Mattingly as the suspect, he was placed under arrest and taken to police headquarters where he was booked and processed. Mattingly declined to speak to police and asked for a lawyer, Sides said.

Mattingly's initial arraignment has been set for 11 a.m. Monday before Judge Gary Kamp. Court documents do not list a lawyer for Mattingly, but they show his history of being in and out of prisons and jails, and off and on periods of probation -- which he violated several times over the years.

Mattingly pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted burglary in 2005, for which he was sentenced to 120 days of shock incarceration and placed on four years probation, court records show.

He violated probation two years later with his guilty plea to charges that said he fraudulently tried to obtain a controlled substance. He was sent to institutionalized long-term treatment for two years and then released and put back on probation. Mattingly spent 10 days in jail in 2011 on drug paraphernalia charges and was on probation for misdemeanor theft charges last year at the time of his Sunday arrest.

smoyers@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

64 S. Plaza Way, Cape Girardeau, Mo.