Employee Sees Robber Twice at Two Different Stores

Employee Sees Robber Twice at Two Different Stores


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Tonya Papanikolas Reporting After an auto store is robbed in Salt Lake, a clerk sees the suspect again at another store. The clerk just happened to pick up a shift at another location when the same suspect hit that store. Before the suspect could steal anything, he recognized the clerk and took off.

The AutoZone on 9th West was robbed last week by a man who took off with auto parts. The clerk chased him, but couldn't catch him. He never guessed he'd see the thief just three days later.

Last Thursday Dennis Kilgore was working a normal day at the Auto Zone on 9th West when a customer asked him for a 200-dollar truck clutch.

Dennis Kilgore, Auto Zone Clerk: “Proceeded to take him to the register to ring him out, I told him his total and I thought he was reaching for his wallet, but he grabbed the clutch and then headed out the door running."

Kilgore chased him out of the store, where the suspect headed toward a car waiting along the street.

Dennis Kilgore: “Right when I was about to grab him, he turned around and lunged and like, put a pairing knife at me."

Kilgore wasn't hurt. The suspect and getaway driver took off with the car's license plate covered.

Dennis Kilgore: “I was just kind of like in disbelief."

Three days later Kilgore picked up some extra hours at another Auto Zone on State Street. Just after his lunch break, he got another surprise.

Dennis Kilgore: I heard somebody ask, 'where's your floor jacks? And I heard, the voice sounded familiar, so I looked around the counter and I seen the guy who was in our store over there. I was astonished. When he saw me he thought he saw a ghost.”

Kilgore says the man walked calmly out of the store. Again he followed and this time wrote down the license plate number before the car took off. But later the driver returned. Police say he apparently didn't know the intentions of his passenger, who police identified as 46-year-old Joseph Ramos. When he learned what Ramos had done, he offered information to police.

Det. Dwayne Baird, Salt Lake Police Dept.: “We were able to locate him. He was booked into the county jail. Bad luck for this guy, that second robbery.”

Ramos was arrested in front of his home, where police seized a knife and narcotics. He was booked into jail on charges of robbery and possession of a controlled substance.

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