Creature tattoo aids in arrest of robbery suspect

A tattoo resembling the prehistoric beast in the 1954 film “Creature from the Black Lagoon” helped police identify and arrest an armed robbery suspect in Coeur d’Alene this morning. Coeur d’Alene Police detectives arrested Christopher Michael Hastings, 26, of Hesperia, Calif., at a house at 724 N. Seventh St. He admitted his role in robberies of a Tesoro gas station store Sept. 17 and a Walgreens early Sept. 18, police said. At first he denied being Hastings, but detectives confronted him with previous booking photos of the large tattoo on his arm. They took Hastings into custody without incident and put him in jail. Detectives have identified two other suspects in the robberies. Charges of armed robbery are pending for a 39-year-old woman and 28 year-old-old man, both of Coeur d’Alene. Their names will be released once they are formally charged, police said.