Robbers Surrender To Police

Robbers surrender to police

By SUSAN OPPAT

NEWS STAFF REPORTER

A pair of Washtenaw County sheriff's deputies, looking tor suspects in an Ann Arbor armed robbery, interrupted a holdup at an other convenience store, rescued store employees, then talked the two robbers out of the situation.

Deputy James Mosher and rookie Deputy Paul Mobbs were on patrol at about 3 a.m. today when they heard a broadcast describing a pair of men suspected of robbing a Hop-In store at 2955 Packard Road, Ann Arbor, a short time earlier, deputies said.

The pair checked the Stop-N-Go store at 2375 Grove Road in Ypsilanti township at about 3:20 a.m. today and spotted someone running through the store, according to Detective Lt. James A Fink.

They went in and asked another clerk if everything was all right. 

"He said 'yeah,' but they could tell something was not right," deputies said.

Using hand signals, Mosher asked the clerk if a man behind the counter had a gun, and the clerk signaled he did.

The deputies pretended to leave the area, but Mosher hid behind a pillar outside while Mobbs pulled the patrol car around to the back of the store, according to deputies. 

The robbers, armed with a rifle and a pipe, ran into a back office, and Mosher got the employees out of the store. 

The suspects, local men aged 17 and 18, fit the descriptions of the men who robbed the ANn Arbor store at about 12:30 a.m., deputies said.

Ann Arbor police said the two teen-agers, wearing ski masks, surprised a clerk at the Hop-In store and yelled, "Give us all the money, hurry up and don't panic."

Ann Arbor police said one robber wielded a four-foot-long piece of pipe while another kept his hand hidden beneath his shirt, implying he had a gun. The clerk handed over an undisclosed amount of money and the robbers fled. 

The two men, who had not been positively identified as of this morning as the suspects in the Ann Arbor robbery, were in the Washtenaw County Jail pending authorization of charges.