EVERETT — An Everett man accused of stealing a lawn mower in March to bail his girlfriend out of jail told Everett detectives that he only went along with a robbery plan in February to keep his lady safe, according to court records released Friday.
Nathan Lee Lafromboise, 31, was charged early this week with burglary stemming from allegations that he stole a Kubota lawn tractor from a Methodist church in Snohomish. Prosecutors allege that Lafromboise sold the mower to raise bail for his girlfriend.
He reportedly told the Snohomish police he would do anything for her.
Lafromboise was arrested at the bail bonds business by Everett police who were investigating him for a Feb. 4 robbery near the Player’s Club bar. Lafromboise, his girlfriend and two other women are suspected of hatching a plan to lure a man out of the bar and rob him for drug money.
The suspects held a gun and a knife on the man. He was able to jump out of the car when it came to a stop. Police said they identified one of the women through video surveillance at a nearby gas station. She allegedly confessed to the robbery and gave up the other three suspects, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Mara Rozzano wrote.
Lafromboise was charged on Friday with first-degree robbery in connection with the incident.
He blamed a another suspect and her boyfriend for the robbery. He said “he was just there out of concern for (his girlfriend). He explained he would never have put her in that kind of jeopardy,” Rozzano wrote.
Prosecutors allege that Lafromboise and the three women agreed that the women would choose a man who looked like he had money. The women would lure him to their car, pick up Lafromboise nearby and rob the victim of his cash. They then planned to take the victim to the mountains, strip him of his shoes and leave him to find a way out of the woods, Rozzano wrote.
The women followed through with the plan, picking a man up as the bar closed. He told police he thought they were all going to Denny’s to meet up with some of his friends. Instead, the women drove around until they met up with Lafromboise, court papers said. He jumped in the car and pointed a gun at the man’s head and demanded money.
The man admitted he only had $25. Lafromboise allegedly demanded the man’s cellphone. The man asked if he could keep it so he could call for a ride home.
“Defendant Lafromboise responded ‘you’re breaking my heart,’ and took the phone,” Rozzano wrote.
The man was able to escape when one of the women was bent down, attempting to cut the laces on the man’s work boots. The car came to a stop and he ran out. The suspects drove off.
One of the women later told police that Lafromboise used a saw to cut up his gun. She said he scattered the remains of the gun along a rural road.
Lafromboise reportedly told police the gun was a fake once he knew the detective didn’t have the gun, Rozzano wrote.
The three women remain under investigation.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
