Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

The Amador County Sheriff's Office SWAT = Team=20 sweeps the area around the Sutter Creek Trading Post July = 9.

Photo by: Bill=20 Lavallie
For a local construction worker, = what=20 began as a simple trip to the post office turned chaotic when he = suddenly found=20 himself speeding through Sutter Creek neighborhoods in his truck as he = looked=20 for an armed robber.

The chase was sparked by the first of two = hold-ups=20 at gunpoint that occurred at the Sutter Creek Trading Post within four = days of=20 each other. As of press time, the gunman was still at large.

The = first=20 incident began around noon on June 9 when the construction worker, whose = name is=20 being withheld, hopped into his pickup truck to get some mail. At the = same time,=20 an attendant at the Sutter Creek Trading Post was carrying out his usual = duties=20 when a man with a mask pulled over his head entered the business. "He = just ran=20 in," the shaken attendant remembered. "At first I didn't know what was=20 happening."

Brandishing a silver pistol, the man demanded money. = The=20 attendant, a father of three, handed over a large sum of cash from the = register.=20

The construction worker was cruising by as the armed robber = exited. He=20 quickly noticed something was wrong. "I saw a guy with a mask come = breaking out=20 of the store in a dead run," he recalled. "He dropped his mask. He was = running=20 so hard he almost tripped and fell near the newsstands."

The=20 construction worker got a look at the robber's face as he observed him = run along=20 old Highway 49 until he came to Hanford House Bed & Breakfast Inn, = at which=20 point he cut right, ducking into an area full of businesses, homes and = yards.=20

A friend of the attendant, the witness sped over to the post = office and=20 swung his truck around. "I've known him for years," he said. "I was = trying to=20 get there as fast as I could to make sure he hadn't been shot." =

When the=20 construction worker pulled up to find the attendant unharmed, he dropped = his=20 girlfriend off and began searching for the suspect down Spanish and = Badger=20 streets. "I was just barreling down alleys and side streets trying to = find him=20 again so the cops would get the best description they could=20 get."

Meanwhile, Sutter Creek Police Chief Rob Duke was on the = scene=20 within minutes of the 911 call. Learning that an armed robber was = operating in=20 his city's neighborhoods, Duke called for backup from surrounding = agencies. The=20 Amador County Sheriff's Office, The Jackson Police Department and the = Ione=20 Police Department all responded to help Duke establish a perimeter = around the=20 area in which the suspect might be hiding.

The Jackson Police=20 Department's K-9 Unit and the Amador County's Sheriff's SWAT Team began = sweeping=20 the area - clearing nearby buildings, basements and yards. At the crime = scene,=20 investigators collected the ski mask that was dropped in the robber's = flight.=20 Despite hours of searching, the suspect was not located.

Three = nights=20 later, on June 12, around 9:30 p.m., a different attendant was counting = the=20 money in his register at the Sutter Creek Trading Post when a suspicious = man=20 appeared. He wore sunglasses and a hood pulled over his head. Whipping = out a=20 silver pistol, he stuck the gun in the attendant's face. He was = extremely=20 demanding and speaking in "gangster slang," according to the attendant. = He soon=20 left on foot with all of the money in the register.

"It worries = me,"=20 said one police officer who responded to the crime scene Sunday night. = "Because=20 he seems to like his gun."

Duke has stepped up patrols in the = city and=20 is working hard on finding the suspect. In both cases, the suspect is = described=20 as a white or light Hispanic male weighing between 170 and 200 pounds. = He may=20 have dark hair and a buzz cut. The Sutter Creek Police Department is = asking=20 anyone who may have information or viewed suspicious activity to contact = them at=20 267-5646.

Scott Thomas = Anderson