This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City police have arrested a man they suspect shot and killed a convenience store clerk early Sunday.
Police say Anthony William Cline, 30, entered the 7-Eleven at 1157 W. California Ave. and got into an argument over cigarettes. About 1:20 a.m., the clerk — 29-year-old Jamie Blalack — asked him to leave, but Cline allegedly fired one shot on his way out and hit Blalack, according to a police news release.
Blalack died at the store. He had worked the graveyard shift there for four years and lived in the area, said Detective Cody Lougy.
Police released surveillance photos of the suspect to the public Sunday morning in the hopes of identifying him. Information from witnesses and tips from the public led detectives to a Woods Cross motel where they took Cline into custody without incident, the release adds.
The department announced Cline's arrest shortly before 3 p.m. Police planned to book him into the Salt Lake County jail on suspicion of murder, Lougy said.
A search of Utah court records shows that Cline has a handful of misdemeanor convictions — including for possession of drugs, possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal mischief — dating from 2003 to 2009.
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