Man, two women face charges in truck hijacking

PITTSBURG, Kan. — Two women and a man are facing robbery, assault and drug charges related to an alleged hijacking of a vehicle in Crawford County.

The Crawford County Sheriff’s Department received a call at 3:48 a.m. Tuesday from a man reporting that his 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck had been stolen at gunpoint.

Sheriff Sandy Horton said in a news release that Francisco Garcia, Geraldo G. Garcia and Jessie C. Banuelos, all of Pittsburg, told police that they met two women Tuesday at The Break pool hall in the 600 block of North Broadway in Pittsburg, and agreed to meet them at the Whitmore Pit west of Pittsburg.

The news release said that at some point, a man showed up instead with a handgun and stole their truck. The vehicle later was spotted by a sheriff’s deputy eastbound on Quincy Street in Pittsburg. It turned north onto Walnut Street before running into a tree at Walnut and Euclid streets, the Sheriff’s Department said.

The driver fled on foot, but a .45-caliber handgun was recovered from the vehicle. An investigation led to deputies stopping of a Ford Mustang at 1:07 p.m. Tuesday at 22nd and Locust streets in Pittsburg with the assistance of Pittsburg police.

Danny Ramon Beverly, 26, the alleged gunman, and Porcha L. Velos, 19, both of Pittsburg, were among the occupants of the vehicle. A second alleged accomplice, Jessica M. Bush, 20, of Frontenac, was arrested later the same day.

Each of the three suspects was charged with aggravated robbery and two counts of aggravated assault. Beverly and Velos also were charged with possession of marijuana, and a warrant from Jefferson City, Mo., was served on Beverly in connection with an alleged probation violation.

They were in custody Wednesday at the Crawford County Jail, with Velos’ bond set at $72,500, Bush’s at $65,000 and no bond set for Beverly.

Store employeefaces chargein theft of cash

An employee of Save-A-Lot grocery store at 811 W. Seventh St. has been charged with stealing more than $12,000 out of the store’s safe after hours.

Sherri R. O’Banion, 24, was arrested Tuesday afternoon at the store after the business reported $12,246 missing from its safe, and police reviewed a store surveillance tape, said Cpl. Chuck Niess of the Joplin Police Department. O’Banion was charged with felony stealing.

Niess said the tape allegedly showed the accused and a male friend entering the store after hours and getting into the safe.

Niess said the 43-year-old male friend had been arrested Sunday night in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart store on West Seventh Street after a police officer observed him stumbling around in the lot, and store employees told the officer that he allegedly had been attempting to enter parked vehicles.

A police report states that the man had $12,023.62 in his pockets. He was charged with misdemeanor tampering and was released the next day, before any report of money missing from the grocery store. Police records show he was arrested again Monday for alleged consumption of beer outside a coin-operated laundry.

Niess said no charge had been filed against him by Wednesday afternoon with respect to the theft from the store, but the case remained under investigation.