Police say worker robbed pizzeria
A man accused of manhandling an assistant manager and robbing Rocky Rococo Pizza and Pasta during the weekend was an employee, officials said Monday.
Juan A. Temido, also known as Stanley A. Perez, allegedly hid in the restaurant at 520 W. Main and took more than $10,000 from the office about 10:15 p.m. Saturday. Police say he threw the money into the Spokane River minutes later when they caught him.
Temido, 20, was booked into jail and had a bail hearing Monday in Spokane County District Court as Stanley A. Perez, but jail officials later determined his correct name was Juan Temido. Temido remained in jail in lieu of $500,000 bail.
He was being held on suspicion of two counts of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree kidnapping and one count of first-degree burglary.
Court documents say the robber had a bandanna over his face and latex gloves on his hands when he rushed into the upstairs office of the restaurant, but assistant manager Kellie M. Crocker thought he was a current or former employee because of his knowledge of the business. She said the robber covered her mouth with his hands and ordered her to “get down.”
Crocker told police she resisted, but the man forced her to the floor, put his knee in the center of her back and put a stocking cap over her head and face to keep her from seeing him. Then he fastened her hands behind her back with duct tape.
The robber took the business keys from Crocker’s pocket as well as $5 in tips she had earned that evening, according to a police report filed Monday in Spokane County District Court. The report says Crocker pleaded for her life when the robber pressed a “cold metal object,” which she believed was a gun, against the back of her head. Temido also took money from the safe and tills, court documents say.
Crocker freed herself from the tape and tried to call 911, but the phone lines had been cut. One of two employees who had been working downstairs came to the office and found Crocker crying.
Court documents say the two downstairs workers attempted to stop the hooded man who came downstairs unexpectedly, but he walked out and locked an exit door to keep them from following.
Police spokesman Cpl. Tom Lee said more than twice the normal number of officers were on duty at the time because of Hoopfest. Officer Dan Waters, who was on bicycle patrol, quickly spotted a man matching the robber’s description.
The suspect was crossing the Canada Island suspension bridge for pedestrians, and threw a backpack and cash into the Spokane River when Waters approached him, according to court documents.
The documents say the backpack had $2,594 in it, along with identification documents for Stanley Perez, when it was found later Saturday night.
All three workers who had been in the restaurant when it was robbed identified Temido as the robber despite his bandanna and hood, police said. Rocky Rococo general manager Seth Hurley told police the employee he knew as Perez had gone off shift an hour before the robbery.
Court records show Temido was charged – under that name – with third-degree theft in 2002 in Spokane County Juvenile Court, but the charge was dismissed.
Then, as Perez, he was cited five times for traffic infractions and charged twice with drug offenses in Spokane and Pend Oreille County district courts, and Spokane and Airway Heights municipal courts.