MARION COUNTY — A 22-year-old Centralia man has been charged in Marion County court with armed robbery for an alleged incident over the weekend in a convenience store parking lot in Centralia.

Matthew S. Woods, who was already in jail on unrelated charges, was formally charged Thursday with Class X felony armed robbery.

According to Centralia police, they responded to a call Saturday night from a man in the Circle-K parking lot saying another man came up to his vehicle, tapped on the window and when he rolled down the window the man put a gun in his face and demanded his money.

The victim told officers that the suspect then got into a cream colored Cadillac and drove off. Approximately an hour later, a Centralia patrol officer spotted a car matching that description at the Huck’s Convenience Store in Centralia. He also spotted Woods, who was wanted on an Effingham County warrant for fraud, and possession of stolen property.

Woods was subsequently arrested on the warrant and taken to the Marion County Jail where deputies added a charge of possession of methamphetamine. On Monday the court set his bail at $100,000 on the meth charge.

Officers questioned Woods and the driver of the Cadillac, as well as searched the vehicle, but Woods denied being in the car.

Detectives continued their investigation and secured surveillance videos from both Circle-K and Huck’s that reportedly showed distinct markings on the Cadillac at one store matched those at the other. A witness ultimately came forward and identified Woods as the armed robbery suspect.

As Woods was already in jail on the meth charge, he was informed of the armed robbery charge in his jail cell.

According to detectives, Woods and victim are not acquaintances and the robbery appears to have been a random act.