| Local law enforcement officers lead robbery suspect Darrel Duncan away from a residence on U.S. Highway 123 in Sunnyside. |
At approximately 6:30 a.m. on July 19, a male suspect reportedly robbed the Single Stop in Wellington at gunpoint.
The suspect, who was described as being a 5 foot 7 inch to 5 foot 8 inch white male in his mid 20s or 30s, allegedly entered the local convenience store and hid in the restroom until the area was vacated by customers, indicated Wellington Police Chief Lee Barry.
The subject then purportedly approached the store attendant and held the victim at gunpoint, demanding that clerk open the cash register.
After the cash register was opened, the suspect reportedly led the attendant into a back storage room and duct-taped the clerk to a chair, according to local law enforcement representatives.
“That is where events took a strange twist,” explained Barry. “A customer came into the Single Stop while the assailant was allegedly robbing the establishment. And instead of turning the gun on the customer, the robbery suspect pretended to work within the store, rang up the individual and gave him his change.”
According to Barry, local law enforcement was able to obtain a significant amount of evidence at the scene, including a detailed description of the robbery suspect and multiple fingerprints.
The Wellington police chief indicated that the suspect allegedly stole approximately $890 in cash from the establishment.
After collecting the initial evidence, Wellington police provided all law enforcement agencies in Carbon County with the description of the robbery suspect. The state crime lab also began working on identifying the fingerprint evidence gathered at the scene.
“What really broke the case open for us was a tip from Carbon County Jail Lt. Justin Sherman. After receiving the description, he had some information that led us right to our suspect,” noted the Wellington police chief.
Upon receiving the tip from Sherman, Barry presented a photo array to one eyewitness.
“Our witness positively identified the suspect and, at that point, we moved in to make an arrest,” said Barry.
After the eyewitness’ identification of the suspect, Wellington police started searching for Darrel Duncan of the East Carbon area.
“We received information that he may be in Price. But after checking one house, we moved to East Carbon and Sunnyside to continue our search,” commented the Wellington chief.
Barry indicated that law enforcement officers simultaneously approached five locations in the east county cities until the suspect was located.
At approximately 5:30 p.m., Wellington Sgt. Kelly Maynes in conjunction with East Carbon police officers and Chief Barry approached a residence at 131 U.S. Highway 123. According to law enforcement officials, Duncan was hiding in a bathroom at the residence. After some peaceful negotiations the suspect exited the residence.
“We went in armed, as is protocol,” said Barry. “But he behaved himself so everything went really smooth as soon as we got him out of the bathroom.”
After being taken into custody, Duncan was booked into the Carbon County Jail on three felony level counts, including aggravated robbery with a firearm, theft and burglary.
“We had great interlocal cooperation on this case. We had every police organization in the county helping us out and ,when you get cooperation like that, a criminal doesn’t stand much of a chance,” concluded the Wellington police chief.