Central WA crime spree stopped after suspected robber targeted Tri-Cities stores

Three people were arrested outside of a Prosser truck stop after a pair of robberies separated by hours and more than 75 miles.

James Z. Brown, 38, of Stanwood, Danielle Lesser, 32, and Osvaldo Villalobos-Vega, 25, both of Moses Lake, were arrested outside of the Love’s Truck Stop around midnight on Tuesday after a string of crimes that started about six hours earlier in Moses Lake.

A man robbed a Moses Lake convenience store near Interstate 90 about 4:40 a.m. Tuesday. He walked into the store shortly after it opened and demanded the money.

He escaped in a vehicle driven by another person. Jones said police were able to use security camera footage to get the car’s license plate. When they searched a database that uses license plate tracking cameras and software, it showed the car had been in Kennewick, Jones said.

Moses Lake police told Kennewick officers that the suspects might be in their area about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

While it’s unclear if Brown, Lesser and Villalobos-Vega were involved in the Moses Lake robbery, Kennewick police officers believe they showed up in the area at 9:05 p.m. Tuesday when they shoplifted items from the Red Apple Market.

Then officers believe Brown showed up at the Jackson’s convenience store, formerly Sun Market, at 1400 W. 27th Avenue about 10 p.m. Tuesday.

According to court documents. He was wearing a gray ski-mask, a black windbreaker and a black baseball hat when he walked into the shop.

He told clerks that it was a robbery and he had “one in the chamber,” which clerks believed meant he had a bullet ready to be fired, court documents said.

Employees handed over the cash from the register, and he fled the store, court documents said.

After Kennewick police asked other agencies to try and find the vehicle, Prosser police started patrolling local convenience stores. Shortly after midnight, a Prosser police officer spotted the car at Love’s Truck Stop.

Prosser officers and Benton County sheriff’s deputies arrested the three people.

Brown is being held in the Benton County jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery and third degree theft. His bail is set at $250,000.

Villalobos-Vega and Lesser have been accused of third-degree theft, a misdemeanor. Lesser remains in jail on $250 bail, and Villalobos-Vega has been released.