WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah, Oct. 10, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — Police have arrested one man who robbed the Smoke Station at 2280 S. Redwood Road, and another suspect is still outstanding.
Guillermo Cruz, 32, was arrested Monday, said West Valley City Police Department in a tweet.
WVC Police Lt. Steve Burke said at least one of the men was armed with a handgun.
Burke said the initial call came in to police at 10:11 p.m., but the robbery actually occurred sometime before that.
“The owner chased the robbers instead of calling us right away,” Burke said.
The second suspect is being described as a light-skinned male wearing a dark mask. Burke said they were driving a dark-colored Honda, which police found after the suspects dumped it.
“There was a handgun in the car, and money scattered around,” Burke said.
The police set up a containment area on Decker Lake Boulevard between Alexander Street and Parkway Boulevard, and brought in the K-9 unit. Burke said the K-9s were tracking and some items of clothing were recovered, but it appeared the suspects had broken the containment area.
The UPS Customer Center is in the area.
“The UPS yard is very big and difficult to search, so a helicopter was brought in to help,” Burke said.
Additionally, Unified Police Department and other law enforcement agencies from surrounding communities assisted in the search, but the suspects were not apprehended at that time.
When asked if the Smoke Station robbery seemed to be part of pattern, Lt. Burke told Gephardt Daily that robberies seem to be increasing in general.
“Last week, we brought in four juveniles who were committing robberies. They were armed with knives and driving a car out of California,” he said.
“We don’t know the exact amount stolen (from Smoke Station), but no amount of money is worth risking your life. The best thing to do is to call the police immediately.”
Burke pointed out that the afternoon and graveyard shifts both participated in the search for the suspects, as well as Unified and other police departments. He said they all help out and support each other whenever possible.
“These are people who are trained and prepared to deal with these situations,” he said. “We had an officer in the (Smoke Station) and on the suspects’ car immediately.”
Anyone with information about the outstanding suspect is asked to call 801-840-4000.
