Man charged in robberyStoryDiscussionFont Size: Default font size Larger font size BY DEBORAH LAVERTY
dlaverty@nwitimes.com 219.762.1397, ext. 2223 | Tuesday, December 02, 2008 | No comments posted.
LAKE STATION | A 24-year-old
Hobart man has been charged with robbing at gunpoint a 53-year-old Lake Station gas station owner, Assistant Police Chief John McDaniel said.
Angel Hernandez Jr. was charged Saturday through Lake County Superior Court with robbery, confinement, intimidation, battery and resisting law enforcement, McDaniel said.
Hernandez is being held in the Lake County Jail in Crown Point, he said.
The victim, the owner of Mike's Gas Stop, 2700 Central Ave., told police he was taking a money deposit bag to his vehicle shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday when he was approached by a man demanding money, court documents state.
The victim refused until a second man approached with a gun drawn inside his sleeve and again demanded the money.
The money was handed over and the two men were seen leaving the area in a black Ford Explorer, court documents state.
Police later spotted an abandoned vehicle, matching a description of the Ford Explorer, parked in front of a house at 10th Avenue and Decatur Street.
While waiting at that location for backup, Cpl. David Johnson reported seeing a man leaving the house. He stopped him for questioning. Soon after, a man later identified as Hernandez, pulled up and told the police to get away from the vehicle, which he said was his.
Hernandez continued to be argumentative, at one point punching police Detective Brian Williams in the nose, court documents state.
Hernandez and three other individuals were taken to the Police Department for questioning.
During questioning, one of the individuals stated Hernandez had bragged to him about robbing an old man in Lake Station.
Police also found a key to the Ford Explorer in Hernandez's pocket and recovered $1,600 in large bills in Hernandez's Hobart home.