An alleged trailer park robbery involving a gold switchblade, a liquor bottle and an Airsoft pistol led to the arrest Thursday of an Ellettsville man and two juveniles.
Jordan T. Pence, 19, is charged with robbery and criminal confinement. One juvenile, a 16-year-old, faces the same charges. The other, a 15-year-old, is only charged with robbery. All the charges are felonies.
Police responded at about 1:45 p.m. Thursday to the Taco Bell on West 3rd Street, Bloomington Police Captain Steve Kellams said, after an 18-year-old man called from the restaurant to report a robbery at the Heatherwood Mobile Home Community in southwest Bloomington.
The victim told police he’d been dropped off at a trailer in the community the night before, Kellams said. There, he smoked marijuana and drank with Pence and the juveniles, all of whom he knew. The next morning, he woke up in the bedroom, where the other three confronted him.
Pence held two knives, the victim said. One juvenile brandished a broken liquor bottle, the other a handgun. They demanded his money. He gave Pence $130, and Pence gave $20 of it back to the victim. They let him leave, and he ran to the Taco Bell three miles away to call police.
The police report did not mention any injuries to the victim, Kellams said.
After interviewing the victim, detectives found the trailer, which the grandmother of one of the juveniles owns. They recovered only one knife, a gold switchblade, and an unbroken liquor bottle, Kellams said.
The grandmother told detectives she’d gotten home late from work the previous evening, at which point all four teenagers were in her grandson’s room. Her grandson was not home when detectives arrived.
Detectives then went to an address on the 5400 block of West Orchard Drive, where they found Pence and the other juvenile. Later that day, the grandmother called police to say she had located her grandson. She took him to Bloomington Police Headquarters.
All three teenagers admitted to the robbery, Kellams said, though each told police one of the others had suggested it. Pence told police the handgun was actually an Airsoft gun. He also told them they spent the $110 on marijuana and cigarettes.
All three were arrested. Pence was taken to the Monroe County Correctional Center, while the juveniles were taken to Jackson County Juvenile Center.
Jack Evans
