LAVERKIN – A man was arrested in LaVerkin Tuesday morning for the aggravated robbery of a gas station.
According to police documents, a 31-year-old Toquerville man entered a gas station in LaVerkin Monday evening. The gas station clerk told police the man bought a few items, and while doing so, asked the clerk how much money was kept in the cash register. The man then paid for the items and left the gas station to put them in his car.
The man returned to the gas station and grabbed another item. The clerk said the man looked toward the front door and out into the parking lot, and then back to the clerk when he was ready to pay for the item. When the cash drawer on the register opened, the man pulled his sweater up and exposed a handgun and told the clerk to leave.
The clerk fled the gas station and called 911. While doing so, the man inside took the money from the cash drawer, as well as the item he was about to pay for, and left the gas station.
After police arrived on the scene, the clerk gave officers the license plate number of the man’s car. Through registration check, the man was identified as a Toquerville resident who had a traffic violation earlier this year. Positive identification of the man was achieved after his driver’s license photo was compared to the gas station’s surveillance footage.
LaVerkin officers arrived at the home where they believed the man was staying. His vehicle was indentified in the driveway and officers announced their presence to the man when he came outside. He quickly ran back inside the house, but gave himself up a short time later and was taken into custody.
A warrant was obtained to search the vehicle and house. A loaded .40-caliber handgun was found under a bed. According to the probable cause statement, “a live bullet was found in the chamber requiring only a pull of the trigger to fire.”
The man was placed under arrest on counts of aggravated robbery, a first degree felony; possession of a firearm by a restricted individual, a second degree felony; and carrying a concealed and dangerous weapon, also a second degree felony.
A review of the man’s criminal history indicates he has a prior felony conviction out of New Jersey.
Bail has been set at $40,000.
Ed. note: Persons arrested are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
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I like the Ed. Note: Persons arrested are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.
Now, would they not be arrested if they were presumed innocent? I always thought that line was hilarious.
Guilty until proven innocent.
I know the person who did this and it is a sad day for all who know him.
Yep – same for the clerk who’s scared out of their mind.
They’ve clearly identified him by a video, by witness statement, by license plate (probably also on video), showing him committing this violent crime. Bail should have, in my opinion, been ten times that amount and cash only. What if another customer had been oblivious to the situation and walked into the gas station, as he was cleaning out that drawer, probably really amp’d up? What if they’d walked in with a bunch of little kids? What would he have done? This is the only gas station in the entire community…pretty stunned it didn’t happen that way. This is one time when it’s pretty dang safe to presume guilt. Why issue bail at all?!? I don’t think he should be allowed to walk freely in our community…they have him on tape threatening a clerk, robbing a gas station at gunpoint…