BOUNTIFUL, Utah -- Bountiful police are looking for a man who went on an armed robbery spree Saturday morning. According to police, the suspect first tried to rob a father and son inside their home, then the robber held up a nearby gas station.
The suspect was first spotted at a home on Monarch Drive around 6:25 a.m. The man who lives at the home and his father were in the garage when the suspect walked down the driveway, pointed a gun at them and demanded that they get down on the ground and give him their money and wallets. The father and son team refused to cooperate.
"So he racked the gun, walked up to the father and put his gun to the back of his head demanding his money and wallet," said Detective Sgt. Troy Killian of the Bountiful Police Department.
Killian said the son took matters into his own hands and attempted to scare off the robber.
"The son started walking, he went behind the car that was there, started yelling and screaming, telling him, 'leave my father alone, please get help, call 911, he's got a gun,'" Killian said. "He also got different items in the garage and started throwing them at the suspect. When he was distracted, the father reached over and pushed the gun away from his head, and at that point the suspect fled the scene."
Neighbor Cory Christensen, who was sleeping next door, heard the commotion.
"Just was woken up by the neighbor screaming for help, 'call 911, he has a gun, help, we are being robbed, someone please help us,'" Christensen said.
He said he grabbed his own firearm, and was on his way to help, when he came into contact with the suspect.
"I actually drew my weapon on him and told him to stop and get on the ground and he didn't, and I gave him some more warnings and told him that if he didn't stop that I would shoot," Christensen said.
According to police, the suspect jumped into his SUV and sped away. Christensen ended up choosing not to fire his gun.
"It all happened really, really fast, a lot of adrenaline, and I guess because I wasn't aware of what was completely taking place," Christensen said. "My hopes were to get him to stop if it would have been in my house or he would have been an intruder it would have been a different story."
According to police, 20 minutes following this first robbery attempt, the Maverik on 105 South 200 West was robbed at gunpoint. The victims in the first robbery were able to confirm through surveillance video that it was the same person who attempted to rob them.
Christensen said this robbery spree impacts the entire community, and his next door neighbor is obviously shaken up.
"Right now he's frustrated, he's mad, as husbands and fathers there is an element of protection that I think goes in the home and that we feel like we need to live up to, and he feels that was violated and quite frankly, so do I," Christensen said.
According to police, the suspect in this case is listed as a man with dark complexion, possibly Polynesian, between 5-feet 10-inches and 6-feet tall who weighs between 220 and 240 pounds. If you have any information on this suspect you are being asked to call the Bountiful City Police Department at 801-298-6000.
