Man identified after armed robbery in Idaho Falls
A 27-year-old Rexburg resident was arrested for burglary and robbery over the weekend.
Idaho Falls Police Dispatch received reports of an armed robbery that had just occurred at the Maverick located at 1520 W Sunnyside Road around 6:40 p.m. Saturday.
A man, later identified as Gilberto Mendoza, had entered the store and gave a note to the cashier demanding that $30 be put on a pump where his car was parked. Mendoza brandished a knife and took cash from the drawer before exiting the store. Mendoza put fuel in his car and left.
Witnesses were able to provide a description of the vehicle and stated it had left traveling southbound on Yellowstone Highway.
Idaho Fall Police Officers initiated a search for the vehicle and dispatch alerted Idaho State Police and neighboring county law enforcement agencies.
An Idaho State Police Trooper was able to locate the suspect vehicle traveling northbound on I-15 near mile marker 121. The trooper turned on his overhead lights to initiate a traffic stop and the suspect vehicle began to flee. Two Idaho State Troopers and two Idaho Falls Police Officers who were closest initiated a pursuit around mile marker 127. Other officers traveled at highway speeds to their location.
A Jefferson County Deputy deployed spike strips on 1-15 at mile marker 135 ahead of the suspect vehicle which successfully slowed the vehicle. However, the vehicle did not stop and exited the interstate traveling towards Roberts. An Idaho State Police Trooper performed a “PIT” maneuver in order to stop the vehicle.
Mendoza exited the vehicle at that time with a knife in hand. He was acting aggressive and would not comply with officers’ commands. Mendoza was tazed and was taken into custody just before 7:00 p.m.
He was booked taken to the Bonneville County Jail.
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ORIGINAL:
A man is in custody after an armed robbery that ended in a high-speed chase.
The Idaho Falls Police Department got a call around 6:40 p.m. of an armed robbery at the Maverick Gas Station on Sunnyside Road in Idaho Falls.
The man showed a clerk a knife, then demanded gas and cash. The clerk gave him both, and the man left.
A short time later, the Idaho State Police located the man on I-15 around mile marker 125 in Jefferson County. He was stopped at the Roberts exit.
The man has been taken into custody. His name has not been released.
