Tacoma teen charged in two gas station robberies minutes apart

Pierce County prosecutors have charged a 16-year-old boy in connection with two gas station robberies in Tacoma.

Miguel Angel Torres Ramirez pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree robbery and attempted first-degree robbery. He was ordered jailed in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Torres Ramirez was arrested May 12 after police spotted him running from the second holdup and tossing a handgun into the bushes.

Charging papers give this account:

A customer at a gas station in the 1700 block of South Hosmer Street called 911 just before midnight May 11 to report seeing a man with a gun and two clerks with their hands in the air.

The clerks later told officers they gave the robber money after he demanded it. He asked for more but a second cash register wouldn’t open.

Instead, the robber took a handful of cigars, pizza and a cell phone and necklace from one of the clerks before fleeing.

While using a search dog to look for the robber, police were summoned to another gas station about a tenth of a mile away in the 9500 block of South Steele Street.

The clerk there told officers he’d been suspicious of a man at the station who been pacing back and forth. Then the man pulled out a handgun and demanded money.

The clerk tried to comply but the cash register wouldn’t open.

“The suspect threatened to shoot the clerk if the money was not provided,” according to court records. “The clerk told the suspect that he couldn’t get the register open. The suspect threatened that he and friends would return the next day and shoot up the business.”

The robber told the clerk he needed money for his mother.

Officers responding to the second robbery spotted Torres Ramirez running from the gas station and took him into custody. Cigars, cash and two cellphones were found in his pockets, according to court documents.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 7:36 AM with the headline "Tacoma teen charged in two gas station robberies minutes apart."