We had a little excitment here Thursday

Police arrest six in Safeway heist
By Jessica Musicar, Staff Writer
Friday, January 16, 2009

Coquille police kept the parking lot and the Safeway store closed Thursday as they investigated the armed robbery of the store.

COQUILLE — Police have arrested six Coquille residents in connection with an armed robbery at Safeway that injured one man early Thursday morning.

In less than 14 hours after Coquille police received the report from a female employee who had been bound by robbers, Police Chief Mark Dannels said officers arrested two teenagers and three men. Police charged each of them with two counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree kidnapping.

Yreka police arrested the men — Tod Bailey, 20; Benjamin Fry, 19; and Josh Mikacevich, 18 — at about 6 p.m. in Yreka, Calif., near the Oregon/California border.

Thanks to a tip, at about 2 p.m. Thursday, Coquille officers, with the help of the Coos County Major Crime Unit and the South Coast Interagency Narcotics Team, arrested 16-year-old Francisco Poncho Ferrer and 16-year-old Tony Vetkos, who is also known as Tony Morris.

The two boys are at the Juvenile Detention Center in Coquille and were arraigned in Coos County Circuit Court today. Coos County District Attorney R. Paul Frasier said the charges for the men, including the teens, are Measure 11 offenses.

“Under the provisions of Measure 11, if you are 15 or older you are automatically tried as an adult,” Frasier said.

He added that he is not sure what the extradition process will be for the adults.

“It’s up to them what to do. If they waive extradition, they could be back as early next week,” he said. “If they fight extradition it could be several months before we see them.”

A Siskiyou County jail official said the three men are being held without bail and are likely to be arraigned Monday or Tuesday.

The store closed at 11 p.m. Wednesday. The robbers came out of hiding with their faces disguised by hoodies, sunglasses and bandanas. They overcame the two employees and tied them up. The male employee suffered a dislocated shoulder, the police chief said. A delivery driver found and untied them.

Dannels said the Safeway in Coquille is working to get the store back in order after the armed robbers damaged cash registers and a safe. The market was closed all day Thursday, but re-opened today.

The chief said investigators have learned there were three robbers hiding inside the store after it closed Wednesday, while two remained outside as lookouts. There are some other people who could face charges, he added.

Robbers stole lottery tickets, cigarettes and more. Armed with a search warrant, police went into a room at a Yreka motel this morning and recovered some of these items, as well as a gun.

“Our investigation is still going to continue. We need to wrap some things up,” Dannels said.

He said police believe the suspects were headed to Mexico. They’re all legal American citizens, he added.

The Oregon State Police sent a crime lab team to process evidence at the store.

RETRO COMMENT: I first heard about the robbery at work,one of my co-workers recognized the man being treated in the ER for the dislocated shoulder and with whom a member of her immediate family had worked. (Yep small town all righty).

Further elements of the story are: The three young men hid in the bathroom until the store closed. The police were able to rather speedily identify them from the security camera. The robbers were wearing the same clothes they came in with and then later wore their disguises. Not good planning. They broke into the registers and only got about 200 dollars, they did not have any luck breaking into the safe and they also took some merchandise. What would you grab from the shelves at Safeway when things are going sour and you have to run for the border?