WILD RIDE: KIDNAPPED SHELL STATION OWNER ESCAPES ROBBER

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POLICE CHASE NABS SUSPECT; PAROLEE MAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR OTHER AREA CRIMES

 

October 15, 2009 (La Mesa) Crime didn't pay for a lone gunman who robbed a Shell gas station clerk at gunpoint around 12:15 today. The suspect took money from the register and fled. The station manager arrived just before police and went looking for the robber in his own car.  Coincidentally, he was flagged down by a man a few blocks away, on Pennsylvania Avenue.

 

Being a good citizen, the manager gave the stranger a ride back toward the Shell gas station so the man could buy gas—not realizing that that the stranded man was actually the robbery suspect. When the suspect realized he was being returned to the crime scene where police were, he kidnapped the gas station manager and forced him to drive west on interstate 8--leading to a harrowing series of events.

 

After the manager realized he had picked up the robber, a fight broke out between the manager and suspect on the freeway, police report. The Shell manager stopped his car, took his car keys and bailed out of his vehicle, leaving the robber behind. The manager ran down the freeway, called 911, and was later transported to the hospital by a family member for treatment of minor injuries to his face.

 

The robber fled over the freeway fence, north into the business area off of Alvarado Canyon Rd. The suspect was last seen headed eastbound near Alvarado Canyon Rd.

 

Police began getting 911 phone calls from drivers who witnessed the struggle between the manager and the suspect. Numerous officers from the LMPD, SDPD and CHP responded to the area to search for the suspect.

 

While officers were en-route to the area, the robber attempted to carjack a woman’s car in the Post Office parking lot at 4740 Mission Gorge Pl. in San Diego. The suspect battered the woman and abandoned his efforts to take her car. The suspect fled and ran east on Mission Gorge Pl. The woman’s injuries are unknown at this time. She was transported to the hospital for treatment.

 

The suspect ran east into the Church of the Nazarene located at 4750 Mission Gorge Pl. A woman from inside the building ran out told police about a man who ran into the church complex. Officers immediately flooded the area and surrounded the church complex. Officers searched the church interior and located the suspect hiding in a storage room.

 

The suspect was identified as the robber and booked into San Diego County Jail on the following charges:

 

211 PC – Armed Robbery
207 PC – Kidnapping
215 PC – Carjacking
245(a)(1)PC – Assault with a Deadly Weapon
422 PC – Criminal Threats

 

The suspect was identified as Michael Thomas, 32, from San Diego. Thomas is currently on parole and was booked on a parole hold as well. He may be responsible for other robberies in the county, La Mesa police report. This investigation is continuing.
 


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