On Friday, July 18th at about 6:33 p.m., two men walked into a Texaco Station at 12900 Preston Road and got more than just gas. In fact, they went inside, took money at knifepoint and left the store.
Officers responded to a call regarding a robbery at the location. While responding officers were investigating the call, Sergeant M. Vaughn, #8456, responded to the surrounding call area to look for the suspect vehicle described in the call.
Sergeant Vaughn saw a truck backed into a parking space in front of the 7-11 located at Forest Lane and Preston Road that matched the suspect vehicle description. He parked on the side of the 7-11 and went inside the store. The only suspect description was a Latin male wearing a white shirt.
Sergeant Vaughn did not initially see anyone matching that description, but as he walked toward the back of the store, he saw a Latin male in his early 20’s, wearing a red shirt. When that man went into the restroom, a Latin male in his early 20’s wearing a white shirt came out. The man in the white shirt got into the passenger side seat of the parked suspect vehicle.
Sergeant Vaughn called Officer Keteltas for a detailed suspect description and was told that the suspect was a Latin male in his early 20’s, wearing a white shirt and had on blue jean pants with paint stains.
“It looked like he just got off work from painting,” Officer Keteltas said.
The man wearing the red shirt came out of the restroom, got in the driver’s side of the suspect vehicle, and drove westbound on Forest Lane. Sergeant Vaughn caught up to the suspect vehicle as the driver pulled into a Texaco. The suspect in the red shirt got out of the truck and appeared to get gas.
In the meantime, additional officers from the Northwest and North Central Patrol Divisions were on their way. The suspects left the Texaco and marked patrol cars initiated a high-risk traffic stop. Officers arrested both men without resistance. Officers found a knife believed to have been used in the robbery inside the suspect vehicle.
The officers who assisted with the apprehension of the two suspects are M. Coggins, #10219, A. Kuschel, #10170, S. McKee, #7652, A. Rundell, #6157, G. Roby, #6111, R. Rodriquez, #9363, C. Jetelina, #9346, S. Voss, #9993, D. Dean, #8682, J. Vogel, #8563, and off duty Officer M. Hebert, #8107. This incident is documented on Case Number 172610-2014.
Great job by all officers involved in this arrest!