Fort Walton Beach Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison For Robbing Convenience Store

November 16, 2017

Fort Walton Beach, FL – A Fort Walton Beach Man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in the February 2017 robbery of a convenience store on Race Track Rd.

The charges arose on February 1, 2017 when Mark Alvin Nelson, Jr. walked into the AOC Food Mart located at 306 Racetrack Road in Fort Walton Beach and robbed it at gun point. An anonymous caller alerted the Sheriff’s Office Communications they were behind the “getaway vehicle.”

The anonymous caller remained on the phone with the Sheriff’s Office until deputies initiated a felony traffic stop on the vehicle in Shalimar. After contact was made with Nelson he spontaneously stated to deputies, “I did rob the place.” Nelson was transported to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division where he was interviewed.

During the Post-Miranda interview, Nelson admitted to robbing the clerk at the AOC Food Mart by pointing a firearm at the clerk and demanding money from the registers. Nelson received a total of $417.00. All the money was recovered and returned to the AOC Mart. The firearm was recovered the following morning at the scene of the traffic stop in Shalimar. The firearm matched ammunition that was located on Nelson’s person after Nelson was taken into custody. No one was harmed during the incident or arrest of Nelson.

Nelson was sentenced to a 30 year state prison sentence followed by lifetime supervision on the charges of Armed Robbery with a Firearm, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Grand Theft ($300 or more, but less than $5000).

Nelson will serve his state prison sentence as a Habitual Felony Offender, 10 years of which will be a minimum mandatory sentence.