Friday, October 12th, 2012
Local man arrested in St. Marys armed robbery
By Shelley Grieshop
ST. MARYS - A local man suspected of armed robbery at the Shell gas station in St. Marys on Tuesday was arrested late Thursday morning.
Taken into custody at 11:45 a.m. at a home in Wapakoneta was Glenn Tuttle Jr., 42, whose last known address is 1122 Hager St., Apt. 12, St. Marys. The arrest took place without incident at 513 Catherine Street, St. Marys Police Chief Greg Foxhoven told the newspaper.
Tuttle appeared in Auglaize County Municipal Court on Thursday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and theft, a first-degree misdemeanor. If convicted of the felony charge, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Tuttle is being held in Auglaize County Jail on a $250,000 bond.
Foxhoven said he was glad to have the suspect in custody less than 48 hours after the crime.
"It took a lot of good police work," he said, adding his department was assisted in the investigation by Auglaize County Sheriff's deputies and Wapakoneta Police.
Police say Tuttle entered the Shell gas station on Celina Road at 5:52 p.m. Tuesday and indicated he had a gun under his clothing. He told the clerk to hand over cash and she complied. No one else was in the store at the time and the clerk was not injured.
Statements from the clerk and at least one other witness led police to believe the suspect left the gas station in a maroon pickup truck with another person. However, police later learned the information was not accurate.
Officers were able to recover evidence from the gas station and the Wapakoneta home that allegedly links Tuttle to the crime, the chief said. Surveillance video at the gas station "played a significant role" in identifying Tuttle, Foxhoven noted.
"We had officers doing surveillance at several locations and (Tuttle) showed up," he said.
Authorities aren't sure if the suspect actually used a gun during the robbery. Foxhoven would not say if the undisclosed amount of cash taken from the gas station was recovered.
"We've got a lot of work to do," he said.
Tuttle has a lengthy criminal background in Auglaize County. Between 1994 and 2011 he was charged with numerous traffic violations, as well as disorderly conduct, escape from jail, criminal damaging, violation of a protection order, receiving stolen property, forgery and domestic violence.
In December 2006, Tuttle was indicted for multiple counts of theft and forgery. He was found guilty of two counts of theft and sentenced to two years in prison. He was granted early release in July 2007 but violated his probation in February 2008 and was sent back to prison for two more years.
