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PROVO -- A Provo police detective refused to give up on a case. Now, two more arrests have been made in a violent robbery from earlier this year, where a victim was beaten with a hammer.
The crime happened at an apartment complex in Provo in early March. Three men came inside and robbed the man. He resisted, so they used a claw hammer and an 18-inch pipe to subdue him.
The robbers got away with a computer, camera, prescription drugs and some cash.
The victim knew one of the suspects as "Eyeball," and he was arrested a few days later. Until Tuesday, the other two suspects were unknown to police.
"It's been several months, but it was a serious enough crime that the victim easily could have died if he hadn't received medical help as soon as he did," said Provo police Capt. Cliff Argyle. "So, it was a case we wanted to find out who all three individuals were who were responsible, and all three have now been charged and are in the county jail."
James Davis, the man known as "Eyeball," pleaded guilty to the robbery last week and is awaiting sentencing.
Rickie Atkin was in jail on unrelated charges when he was questioned by detectives Tuesday, and he implicated Christian Monroy as the third suspect.
Coincidentally, Monroy had just been arrested for violating a protective order and was in jail Tuesday but was released before the detective could interview him. Monroy was tracked down a couple of hours later and arrested again.
The motive behind the robbery was to get money to buy drugs. Police say the victim of the attack has recovered from his injuries.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
