Within two days of the crime, four suspects were charged late Wednesday with robbing the Piggly Wiggly in Natchez and shooting the assistant manager.

&uot;(There) was a lot of hard work put in by a lot of the officers, and it paid off,&uot;&160;said Natchez Police&160;Chief Willie Huff, about the quickness of the arrests.

Police have charged Kareem L. Baldwin, 20, 817 N. Rankin St., Corey V. Robinson, 21, 12 Roundale St., and Carlos D. Thomas, 24, 817 N. Rankin St., with aggravated assault and armed robbery. All three were being held Thursday on $75,000 bonds.

Police charged Terrance M. Broadus, 24, 104 S. Hickory St. Vidalia, with accessory after the fact. Broadus was being held Thursday on a $20,000 bond.

Huff said police connected the suspects with the crime by talking to people in the community.

Afterwards, officers made a traffic stop at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday to apprehend three of the suspects.

They apprehended the fourth suspect, Corey Robinson, later that same evening near his residence.

&uot;(We) hope this puts a deterrent in other people’s thoughts who want to come here and do crime,&uot; Huff said.

Police believe the suspects entered the Piggly Wiggly on Seargent S. Prentiss Drive at around 8:45 p.m. Monday and fired five shots before stealing an undisclosed amount of money from the store’s office and leaving the scene.

During the shooting, a bullet struck the store’s assistant manager, Donnie Boles, in both legs, lodging in his left leg.

Police believe Corey Robinson drove the get-away car but that does not change the charges he faces, Huff said.

A person can still be charged as a principle &uot;whether you actually went into the store or not,&uot; Huff said.

And as for Broadus, &uot;we just know he had knowledge of it before and after,&uot; Huff said

Also this week, police acquired a search warrant for Baldwin and Thomas’s residence and seized money and other evidence.

They also seized two cars – a 1986 Oldsmobile 98 and a 1980 Delta 88 Oldsmobile.

&uot;Both of these vehicles were purchased Tuesday by these individuals,&uot; Huff said. &uot;We feel they were purchased with some of the robbery money.&uot;

The suspects could face a maximum of 30 years on the armed robbery charge and 20 years on the aggravated assault charge.

At the time of the crime, Thomas was also on probation for a previous aggravated assault charge, Huff said.

The victim, Boles, was released from Natchez Community Hospital Thursday.

Barry Loy, retail store director of Supermarket Operations, which owns the Piggly Wiggly store, said he and his employees are relieved to have the suspects arrested and are pleased with the hard work of the Natchez Police Department.

&uot;The good guys won for a change,&uot; Loy said.