Police credit four people with stopping a man and a woman from stealing a money bag worth $1,750 from a Durango gas station Wednesday.
The robbery was reported about 11 a.m. at the Exxon Mobile near Walmart, said Sgt. Ray Shupe, spokesman with the Durango Police Department.
A New Mexico couple – Adrian Chavez, 39, and Alexandria Tafoya, 34 – have been arrested on suspicion of felony robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. Both were being held Wednesday in the La Plata County Jail on $10,000 bail.
Police said Chavez grabbed the bank bag from under a cash register at the gas station and tried to escape out the front door, where Tafoya was waiting in a white sedan.
The couple cased the gas station before executing the plan, Shupe said.
The gas station clerk noticed Chavez grab the bag, and grabbed him, Shupe said. The two struggled for control of the bag before Chavez made his escape with the money bag, he said.
The clerk, two other employees and a bystander rushed to stop him. They “got a hold of him (Chavez) and held him down,” Shupe said.
Law enforcement arrived within two minutes of receiving a 911 call reporting the incident, he said.
Chavez was treated at Mercy Regional Medical Center for minor abrasions caused during his detention then booked in the La Plata County Jail.
bhauff@durangoherald.com
