Videotape Shows Robbery Suspect

Spokane police have a store security camera videotape of a man robbing a Zip Trip earlier this month.

The man entered the store at 1503 E. Illinois April 2 about 6:15 a.m. He displayed a handgun and pointed it at the male clerk, demanded money from the cash register and a carton of Newport cigarettes, said police spokesman Dick Cottam. Then he left the store on foot.

The videotape shows the man enter the store, move off camera, then talk with the clerk on camera, then leave.

The robber was a white male, about 30, about 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds. He was wearing what may have been safety goggles, and possibly a blond wig under a baseball cap.

Spokane police say the videotape is clear enough so that anyone who knows the robber could identify him from the tape.

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at 456-2233.

Suspect arrested, thanks police

A man who refused to surrender to arresting officers and was eventually sniffed out by a K-9 thanked police and conceded they had done a “good job.”

Spokane police arrested Robert A. Brown, 34, on outstanding warrants, and as a possible suspect in an Oregon homicide.

About 11:20 p.m. April 5, police went to a residence at 4807 N. Nelson to take Brown into custody. Brown ignored repeated police requests to leave the house and at one point, he slammed a window on an officer’s fingers, injuring the officer, Cottam said.

Finally, police announced they would release a K-9 into the residence, but Brown still refused to surrender. Brown hid in the rafters next to a skylight, but the dog quickly located him and Brown was taken into custody, Cottam said.

Brown was booked into jail for driving under the influence, malicious mischief, driving with a suspended license, domestic violence and violation of a probation order. He also was booked for assaulting an officer, a felony.

As he was leaving, Brown stopped, shook one officer’s hand, thanked him and said he had done a “good job,” Cottam said.