Police seek Dollar Store theft suspect

Police are looking for a man they said robbed the Dollar Store at 10600 E. Sprague Ave. on Saturday.

Witnesses told police a man approached a cashier about 9 p.m., asked what time the store closed, then drew a small, black pistol and demanded cash, according to a release from Sgt. Dave Reagan of the Sheriff’s Office.

No shots were fired, and the suspect headed west on Sprague in a small, red car, Reagan said in the release.

The suspect was described as a white male approximately 6 feet tall with shaggy brown hair below his ears and facial hair. He was missing his upper front teeth.

Police are asking anyone with information to call 242-TIPS.

Car chases end in crashes

Car chases on different days ended in crashes at the intersection of East Fourth Avenue and South Park Road last weekend.

At 4:35 p.m. Friday, an officer saw a Cadillac being driven recklessly on the 7300 block of East Fifth, Reagan said in a release. The driver sped off through a residential neighborhood but lost control where Fourth ends at Park Road, narrowly missed a northbound van and hit a retaining wall, Reagan said.

The driver and a male passenger ran off and managed to avoid police and a canine team brought in to find them.

On Saturday, the same officer saw a 1992 Honda Accord, which police later identified as stolen, that sped off down Fourth at the sight of police, Reagan said. During the chase, the Honda reached 90 mph before spinning out on Park Road. Police chased the suspected driver on foot and arrested Leslie J. Olson, 24, Reagan said.

Olson was booked into county jail on counts of attempting to elude a police vehicle, second-degree taking a motor vehicle without owner’s permission and several other charges.

Police continue to investigating both chases. One witness told police Olson was also one of the men who fled from the crashed Cadillac, Reagan said.