Armed Robbery At South Beach Grocery Store

On Sunday July 27, 2025, at approximately 3:47 am, Newport Police Officers were dispatched to South Beach Grocery on a report that a subject had just robbed the clerk at gunpoint. Newport Police, along with a Lincoln County Sheriff's Deputy, searched the area and were unable to locate the suspect. Review of surveillance footage showed a lone male subject walking into the store with his face covered with a makeshift mask. The suspect pointed a handgun at the clerk, demanded the money from the register, and a specific pack of cigarettes and an energy drink before fleeing on foot.

After reviewing the video surveillance footage, officers developed suspect information and at approximately 8 am, Newport Officers contacted 31-year-old Joshua Greenleaf Devries of Newport at Highway 101 and SW Angle Street, at Newport City Hall. Officers noticed that Devries fit the suspect description, and he was ultimately arrested for the robbery. Devries was lodged at the Lincoln County Jail facing charges of Robbery in the first degree.

Menacing, Unlawful use of a weapon, and Theft in the second degree. The incident remains under investigation.