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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sirens & Gavels

Cop finds robber asleep across street

A man who robbed a convenience store of a drink and beef jerky at knife point didn't get very far early Sunday, police say.

In fact, Officer Scott Haney believes he found him passed out across the street with the stolen goods surrounding him.

Haney found a man matching the description of the robber asleep across the street while responding to a report of a robbery just before 4 a.m. Sunday at the nearby Tesoro gas station, 901 E. Sharp Avenue.

The suspect, later identified as James Joseph Tolman, 45, was booked into jail on first-degree robbery and resisting arrest charges.

A bystander had contacted Haney while he was interviewing the Tesoro clerk and told him there was a "man down" on the sidewalk in front of the Star Bar.

Haney saw a large pair of scissors and a large canned beverage sticking out of the man's front sweatshirt pocket. He also saw an empty package of jerky with its contents scattered around the sleeping man. The man also wore  a Washington State University sweatshirt, which is what the clerk said the robber was wearing, and he matched the height and weight of the robber.

The officer said Tolman resisted arrest, so Gonzaga University security officers Bary Loe and John Johnston helped him.

Police say Tolman had confronted the Tesoro employee with a small knife as he tried to leave the store with the items. A corporal photographed the items as well as Tolman's face, which police say "was injured during the arrest process."

Tolman is in the Spokane County Jail on the new charges as well as a U.S. Marshals' hold. He was convicted of gun charges in U.S. District Court in 2004.



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