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For months, they were without a suspect. Then, when Ethan Thrower was arrested and charged with the Rustica robbery last November, the case broke. At a pretrial release hearing last week, Sheriff's Deputy Val Owen read this list of crimes into the record. According to testimony, Thrower and his friend Tom Curtis are the primary suspects. Authorities suspect a third Grant student, Todd Seymour, participated in the final two. * 11/25/96 Baskin-Robbins on Northeast 39th Avenue was held up by two men in ski masks, reportedly one black and the other white. * 12/30/96 A gunman held up the drive-through clerk at Burger King at 3550 NE Broadway, where Thrower was working. * 2/4/97 Baskin-Robbins was held up again by two masked gunmen. * 2/5/97 A gunman flashed a chrome semiautomatic at Nature's on Northeast 24th Avenue and made off with cash and checks. The getaway car was described as a red Volkswagen bug, which is the type of car that Curtis is known to drive, according to police. * 2/8/97 Two robbers hit the Beaumont Market on Northeast Fremont Street. * 3/5/97 Two men, one with a silver revolver, threaten a clerk at the Taco Bell on Northeast Sandy Boulevard and take
his money. * 4/7/97 Two gunmen rob the Wendy's
on Northeast Sandy Boulevard. * 4/28/97 Two gunmen, one with a revolver and the other with a semiautomatic, rob the Barnes & Noble on Northeast Broadway. * 5/11/97 In the early morning hours, Farrell's ice cream shop on Northeast Weidler Street is robbed. * 6/4/97 Gunmen hit the Beaumont Market for the second time. This time,
one robber puts a gun to base of the clerk's skull before making off with cash and lottery tickets. * 7/2/97 The Beaumont Market is hit a third time. * 11/3/97 Synergy, a retail store on Northeast 29th Avenue specializing in New Age merchandise, is robbed. Witnesses say there were three men involved. * 11/15/97 Rustica is robbed of $454 at 10:30 pm. At the time, about 18 people were finishing their dinners. Minutes after the robbery was reported, Curtis called 911 when a gun in Thrower's waistband accidentally went off. After that, the string of robberies ended. "The only thing that stopped them is him shooting himself," Owen told WW.
"It makes you wonder how far they would have taken this stuff." --MO |
