By Tom Gilchrist
For The Advertiser
VASSAR – City police here say they’ve arrested one of two suspects accused in connection with the Dec. 30 strong-arm robbery of the B&B Market.
Police Chief Ben Guile said officers arrested a female suspect earlier this month, though a second suspect remains at large. The woman hasn’t been arraigned in Tuscola County District Court.
The store was open at 5:15 a.m. on Dec. 30 when a male and female entered the business and locked the door behind them, according to Guile. The suspects bound and gagged a female store employee, placing her in a bathroom, the chief said.
Guile said the suspects didn’t threaten the worker. “It was basically just a ‘If you do what we tell you, you won’t get hurt’ kind of thing,” Guile said.
The chief said the suspect in custody said she and the other suspect weren’t armed. The store employee didn’t see any weapons, police said. The suspects, however, obtained about $2,000 in cash before exiting the business and driving away from the store at East Huron Avenue and North Water Street, Guile said. The store worker eventually freed herself and left the restroom to call police.
Guile said the suspect never worked at the store, but was located following a tip.
“We were investigating tracking down a list of prior employees and received an anonymous tip here at the police department that put us on the right track,” Guile said.
Guile declined to say where the female suspect was arrested, but said Vassar Police Department Officer Jody Grant “did most of the leg work and the investigation, and did an excellent job.”