Officers respond to 3 robberies within an hour

Spokane police responded to three robberies within an hour this morning. The rash of robberies began at 12:18 a.m., when officers responded to a robbery at the Cenex Zip Trip on West Francis Avenue. Two men dressed in black, wearing masks, entered the store and took an undisclosed amount of money. Officers were unable to locate the men. At 12:47 a.m., south-side patrol officers responded to the 1600 block of West Third Avenue, where a woman said she was assaulted and robbed of more than $300. Officer Cory Lyons contacted and arrested 33-year-old Kermit C. York, 23-year-old Kevin M. Hunter, and 24-year-old Timothy W. Yax for first-degree robbery. At 1:01am, North side patrol officers responded to 1600 W. Spofford on another robbery call. Suspects wearing masks, armed with handguns, broke into a home and fled prior to police arrival. Police also responded to a fight inside the Downtown Grocery on West Sprague at 12:18. The store clerk was assaulted while trying to remove the people fighting from the store and suffered a broken finger. A 17-year-old boy was arrested for first-degree assault and possession of methamphetamine. A citizen was outside the Zip Trip at the moment of the robbery there, and detectives are asking that citizen to come forward and contact them via Crime Check at (509) 456-2233. The robberies come less than a week after four masked men robbed a McDonald’s on South Regal and a home invasion left one man with a gunshot wound to the leg. Police said it is too early to tell whether any of the cases are related.