Roanoke Rapids, N.C. — What appeared to be a Monday evening robbery of a gas station in Roanoke Rapids turned out to be a domestic violence case that left a woman hospitalized and her ex-boyfriend in custody, authorities said Tuesday.

Halifax County deputies responded to a reported robbery at the Marathon station at U.S. Highway 158 and Zoo Road at about 6 p.m. and found the clerk had been stabbed several times but no money taken, authorities said. A second clerk who tried to intervene also suffered minor cuts in the attack, they said.

The deputies learned that the clerk who had been stabbed had recently broken up with the alleged assailant, and they issued an alert for him and his car.

Anthony Jermaine Gilchrist 22, of Margretsville, was arrested in Emporia, Va., shortly after 7:30 p.m. and was charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and assault on an unborn child. He was extradited to North Carolina Tuesday and was being held without bond in the Halifax County jail.

The clerk, whose name hasn't been released, was taken to Halifax Regional Medical Center for treatment and was later transferred to an undisclosed hospital. Her condition was unknown.