Armed man robs doughnut shop today
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 02:14 p.m., July 3, 2008
Updated 02:14 p.m., July 3, 2008
Police are looking for a tall, slender white man suspected of robbing the Willard’s Daylight Donuts store, 902 W. Sixth Ave., this morning at approximately 6 a.m.
Police Chief Gary Smith said that witnesses — a clerk and a customer — described the man as being about 6 feet tall and possibly having blond hair.
“We know there was some sort of head gear,” Smith said, adding that the witnesses were not sure whether he was wearing a cap or some other type of head covering.
“We’re pretty sure it’s a white male,” he said. “We have only the witness accounts of this and obviously (the man) had a gun. ... It was a large handgun, dark in color.”
The witnesses were not able to provide a clothing description.
The alleged robber disabled the telephone and forced the witnesses to lie down on the floor.
The incident happened about 6 a.m. today, though it was not reported to Emporia police until 6:22 a.m. Neither witness had a cellular phone to call police after the man left, and they apparently went to the street to flag down a passerby in a truck. Smith said they drove to the Daylight Donuts store at 1028 Commercial St. to call police.
Though the description of the alleged robber is sketchy, Smith said he may have left some evidence at the store.
“We do believe we have some forensic evidence at the scene that the investigators are working on,” he said.
The man, who took a currently undetermined amount of cash, left the store on foot. Smith said it is not known whether an accomplice was waiting in a car nearby, or whether the man was alone.
Emporia police officers D.J. Dragonis, Ray Mattias, and Jim Pritchard, and Sgt. Mark Summey responded to the initial call, and were joined at the scene by Detective Sgts. Mark Schondelmaier and Mark Senn, who are investigating the case.
Smith asked that anyone who may have seen a man matching that description entering or leaving the area to call police, 343-4220, or Lyon County Crimestoppers, 342-2273.
This morning’s robbery was the second in less than two years at the doughnut shop.
In that robbery, on Sept. 17, 2006, a man entered the store about 6:30 a.m. and demanded cash. He produced a weapon and ran east with the money.
landofoz (anonymous) says...
The robber was probably mad because the city cut the fireworks display out of the budget.
July 3, 2008 at 2:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madpoet (anonymous) says...
People are getting desperate. Could have been a laid off Tyson worker. I think we'll see more of this as people run out of money and aid. Sad.
July 3, 2008 at 4 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
rox_alan (anonymous) says...
Unfortunely I think you're so right with it going to happen more now with times hard on everyone. With the lay offs and with the price of gas, people are having a hard time making ends meet and there is a need to feed the family. Let's hope though that Emporia will bring in some new jobs soon and that it don't get to the point where we see more robberies of businesses happening. We can't blame everything on the commissioners cause of the fireworks not being put on this year.... But they could had possibly gave us a heads up that it wasn't going to happen and maybe some donations toward it could had taken place. But we was cut off guard with the news just a few days from being the holiday.
July 3, 2008 at 6:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
I'd bet the person who did the robbery is not the type to have a good steady work history, has little to offer as far as common sense or intelligence, has a prior criminal record, and most likely did it to support his drug habit rather than trying to make ends meet. A donut shop at 6am is not likely to have large sums of money, maybe a couple hundred dollars at most. That's not desperate, going to prison for a $200 is moronic. I'd be willing to bet he lives close by, and has a meth problem.
July 4, 2008 at 9:28 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scripta (anonymous) says...
I second what "neighbor" wrote. Plus, the cap or head covering discussed in the article was probably a mullet.
July 4, 2008 at 11:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
apsuz (anonymous) says...
So just how much cash did he think he was going to get at a donut shop that early in the morning? I hope he didn't think he was going to strike it rich, much less get enough cash to get very far from Emporia with the price of gas the way it is now.
July 4, 2008 at 11:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Bjnemp (anonymous) says...
I'd be willing to bet all that idiot wanted, or needed, was his next fix of crack or meth and he had no money. Addicts will do anything for that next hit when desperate, including kill you for a few bucks. A poor addicted fool like that needs some serious therapy. A .45 slug between the eyes works well.
July 4, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthefacts (anonymous) says...
Actually, I saw the cops checking out those guys the other night before the robbery. I think you all are right. Most of this stuff turns out to be drug related. The good news is that as the druggers get more hooked, they get more careless. It's just a matter of time before one gets caught who will rat out the rest of them rather than face time in jail going cold turkey. I'd predict that based on the recent rash of incidents and those getting caught, a bigger break will happen before the end of August.
July 5, 2008 at 2:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )