Two men arrested for alleged armed robberies

Local police officers arrested two men Monday morning in connection with two Sunday evening Monroe County armed robberies.\nA clerk for a Swifty's convenience store in Elletsville said a man tried to rob the store with a shotgun Sunday evening, said Monroe County Sheriff's Department Detective Shawn Karr. The clerk reported that two men in a white Chevrolet van pulled up in front of the store while one of the men exited the van and held the clerk at gunpoint, demanding the money from the cash drawer. \nThe clerk told police he then knocked the barrel of the gun away from his face.\nHe was able to memorize the license plate number of the van before it drove away, police reported.\n"He was able to remember everything except for one letter," Karr said. \nAbout an hour later, police received another report of an armed robbery in the area. Karr said a clerk at a Circle S Food Mart in Bloomington reported that a man had entered and displayed a handgun. The clerk emptied the cash drawer for the robber.\nKarr said that by the time of the report of the second robbery, Monroe County Sheriff's Department officers had tracked down the white van with the reported license plate number and arrived at the address of the owner.\nKarr said the van was sitting in the driveway, and the shotgun that matched the Swifty's clerk's description was in the front seat.\nAccording to the report, deputies retrieved the firearm from the vehicle and talked to a woman who lived in the house, who gave them the phone number of her husband. The officers contacted him by phone, and he agreed to meet with them to talk.\nOfficers then arrested Mark McIntosh, 50, on preliminary charges of armed robbery. McIntosh had previously been convicted of dealing a narcotic, so he cannot legally possess a firearm. Officers also had a photo on file for witness identification.\nMonday morning, Bloomington Police Department officer Jason Shaevitz spotted a man who matched the description of one of the robbery suspects standing in front of Kilroy's Bar and Grill, said BPD Detective Sgt. David Drake. Drake said Shaevitz exited his vehicle and grabbed the man.\nOfficers identified the man as Christopher Davis, 28, and arrested him on preliminary charges of armed robbery.\nMcIntosh also faces a preliminary charge of possession of a firearm by a violent felon because of his previous charges.