EVERETT — A south Everett mini-mart owner needed more than a dozen stitches after being pistol-whipped during an armed robbery last week.
Three people, including two juveniles, are behind bars in connection with the March 26 holdup. The suspects are believed to be associated with an area gang. Investigators say the trio boosted two T-shirts from the store and terrorized the shop’s owners.
Prosecutors this week charged two of the suspects with first-degree robbery. Michael Robbins, 21, is charged in Everett District Court. Angel S. Losano, 17, is being treated as an adult in Snohomish County Superior Court because of the seriousness of the charge. The third suspect, 16, is expected to be charged today.
Investigators believe two of the suspects scouted out the store minutes before all three rushed inside.
The 17-year-old allegedly pointed a gun at the store owner’s wife, who was standing behind the counter. Her husband confronted the masked teenager. The teen clobbered the man twice in the head with a pistol, according to court documents.
The other robbers quickly grabbed two shirts from a display. All three ran from the store.
Police found the store owner bleeding profusely from a gash to his head. He was hospitalized and needed 16 stitches.
Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives collected surveillance video from the store and began searching for the suspects. Investigators created digital images from the video footage.
The pictures were sent out in a law enforcement bulletin.
A couple of days later, a sheriff’s sergeant spotted one of the suspects standing on a street corner. The suspect was wearing the same jacket he’d been wearing during the robbery.
He was arrested, but denied taking part in the heist. He had a warrant for his arrest for failing to report to his community corrections officer for an earlier robbery conviction. He was being held on $200,000 bail.
A school resource officer provided detectives with Losano’s name. The deputy recognized the teen from his work in the area. The young man was arrested Monday at his mother’s home.
Losano allegedly admitted aiming a gun at a woman inside a store. He told investigators that he didn’t know if the gun was loaded. He refused to identify the other suspects.
The teen told investigators that he’d smoked marijuana and drank Four Loko, an alcoholic beverage, before the robbery.
Losano, who has gang tattoos on his arms, has one prior felony juvenile conviction and eight misdemeanor convictions. He pleaded not guilty Thursday in Superior Court.
He was being held on $250,000 bail.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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