Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The clerk from Winlock’s Handi store has been arrested in connection with the robbery there earlier this month.

Police arrested a 45-year-old Winlock man for the Sept. 6 incident and charged him with second-degree robbery and second-degree burglary. Tamrick A. Torres told them he and the clerk had conspired to rob the store because she was unhappy with her wages there, according to prosecutors.

And last week, when an officer ran into him, stopping him for speeding, Torres reportedly shared further details, according to court documents.

“Torres stated that his attorney would be mad at him for providing this  information, but that he didn’t care,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.

Torres allegedly said he had the mask he used that night and also a BB gun that looked like a pistol which the clerk provided him to make it look more realistic, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello wrote.

When police were called to the nighttime incident on Kerron Avenue, they were told a person wearing a skeleton-type mask, had a handgun, demanded money from the till and the clerk handed it over. She said the subject had reached toward his waistband where she saw what looked like the black handle of a firearm, but Torres subsequently told police he didn’t use the BB gun during the robbery because he thought it was a bad idea.

On Monday, the clerk, Cheryl D. Oleachea was contacted by law enforcement and continued to deny any involvement, according to Masiello. But she underwent a polygraph examination and the results show she was not truthful, according to Masiello.

Oleachea, 53, was arrested yesterday and booked into the Lewis County Jail. She was charged today with second-degree theft in Lewis County Superior Court. The owner reported $1,589 in cash was missing.

Judge Nelson Hunt allowed her release on a $10,000 unsecured bond. Her arraignment is next week.
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For background, read “Robber with black and white Scream-type mask hits Winlock store” from Wednesday September 7, 2016, here

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 29th, 2016 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.