PELHAM – A Montevallo man was arrested on Sunday, July 15, and charged with a slew of crimes after robbing a Pelham gas station.

According to the PPD, officers responded to a silent alarm at a convenience store in the 600 block of Cahaba Valley Road on Sunday, July 15, just after 5 a.m. When the first officer arrived, he saw a woman, later identified as a store clerk, standing at one of the gas pumps with a man. The woman made eye contact with the officer, pointed at the man and quickly walked away from him.

The suspect, later identified as John Sharpe, 49, of Montevallo, then sped away toward Interstate 65. Officers pursued the vehicle on I65 south to exit 234 in Calera. Sharpe took the exit and then entered the I65 North exit ramp and began driving south in the northbound lanes.

PPD officers forced Sharpe off the road when they observed oncoming traffic. With the help of Alabaster and Calera police, Sharpe was taken into custody.

Officers recovered $60 in U.S. currency, allegedly taken from the cash register, as well as a knife police believe was used to commit the robbery and hold the clerk against her will. Sharpe also allegedly stole $22.09 in gasoline.

He is charged with first-degree robbery, attempting to elude law enforcement, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree receiving stolen property.

As of Wednesday, July 18, he was in the Shelby County Jail on a total of $42,000 bond. His case is assigned to Judge Daniel Crowson Jr.