Elk Grove police: Teens arrested in gas station robbery; one ‘kicking and spitting’
Officers arrested two teenagers on suspicion of robbery after an Elk Grove gas station was held up for cash with one suspect simulating he had a weapon.
The teens were found and taken into custody not long after the Thursday robbery, the Elk Grove Police Department announced on its Facebook page Friday.
One of the suspects, later identified as Jacob Ortiz-Baetiong, “became combative by kicking and spitting at officers,” according to police. The officers subdued Ortiz-Baetiong and took him into custody, officials said.
The robbery occurred about 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Valero gas station in the 8900 block Elk Grove Boulevard, just east of Highway 99.
The two suspects entered the gas station and demanded money from the clerk. When one of the suspects simulated he had a weapon, the employee feared for his life and complied with the robbers’ demands, according to police.
The suspects took the stolen cash from the register and ran away. Officers responded to the reported robbery and surrounded the area.
Police officials said the officers found Ortiz-Baetiong and the other robbery suspect, a 17-year-old, hiding in a home’s backyard not far from the gas station.
Ortiz-Baetiong was arrested on suspicion of robbery, assault against a police officer and criminal conspiracy and booked at the Sacramento County Jail. The other teen was arrested on suspicion of robber and booked the county’s Juvenile Hall.
