RAPID CITY, S.D. – Rapid City police say they are investigating three robberies that occurred within 15 minutes and within a one mile radius of each other Sunday night and an arrest indicating all three are connected has taken place.
Around 7 p.m., police were dispatched to Mr. Liquor on Sturgis Road. An employee told police two men picked up liquor bottles and brandished a handgun at the clerk before leaving. Police recovered a photo of the suspects from the business’s surveillance system.
Then, around 7:10 p.m., police were called to the Golden Phoenix Restaurant on West Main Street for a reported robbery. A man, described to be in his 20s, wearing a blue plaid jacket, blue jeans and a blue bandana, confronted a woman leaving the restaurant. The victim told police he brandished a gun and demanded her property. The woman refused.
Then, the man approached someone else in the parking lot, brandished the handgun and tried to steal from him, according to the second victim.
Finally, at 7:15 p.m., a third robbery happened at The Plaza building on West Omaha Street. According to an employee, a man entered the business, brandished a handgun and demanded money. However, the employee hid and the suspect was unsuccessful in getting money from the register.
Police say the three robberies are related and have arrested two suspects. They are 28-year old Jay Chase Alone and 19-year old Philip Jumping Eagle.
Both are being held in the Pennington County Jail.
