Four Anchorage men have been charged with two counts of first-degree robbery after a night of skipping around town and forcefully taking a hotel's money then unsuccessfully attempting to bust open a gas station ATM. The men did nab some cigarettes, though.
Miracle Tulimasealii, 23, Tusa Tanuvasa, 18, Siaosi Sila, 20, and Lonnie Reed, Jr., 22, all face felony charges. Sila and Tulimasealii have had past run-ins with law enforcement.
Around 1 in the morning on Saturday, police got a call regarding the first of a pair of robberies. Anchorage police went to the Hampton Inn in midtown. The desk clerk told police that three Samoan men burst through the front door, each carrying a firearm -- a short-barreled shotgun and two pistols, according to charging documents. Police described the men as Pacific Islanders.
One of the men told the clerk to lie on the ground, then had her get up and open the cash drawer, the charges say.
The armed man led the clerk to a backroom office and again told her to get on the ground and not move or come out. After a few minutes of silence, she arose from the floor and called police.
When police arrived, the clerk was visibly shaking. An open cash register was empty, the charges say.
The robbers struck again as officers investigated the robbery at the inn. The defendants allegedly drove across Anchorage to a Chevron gas station in the Jewel Lake area and tried to break open an ATM. Tulimasealii fired multiple shotgun rounds at the cash machine but the sturdy device stayed shut. The men grabbed some money and cigarettes and fled the store, Anchorage police wrote in a Wednesday press release. Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Jennifer Castor said the money was taken from the business's counter but did not specify whether it was taken from a cash register, safe or elsewhere.
Upon arrival, police discovered an employee had locked himself in an office, the charges say.
The Chevron robbery also involved three men, with one carrying a shotgun, which led police to suspect the two crimes were related. Both incidents involved a silver Chevy Impala, according to the officers' investigation. APD also sent out a description of robbery suspects to officers.
Castro said police were responding to a separate incident at a midtown Motel 6 when they spotted the robbery suspects. Officers went to the nearby Fairfield Inn, where they contacted Tulimasealii, who had two cell phones and money stuffed in his socks, the charges say.
Officers got a search warrant for a Motel 6 hotel room and found clothing "that was seen in still photographs of prior robberies," the charges say. In a black bag on the bed was a stolen handgun and a BB gun was under one of the room's mattresses. In the closet was a purse with identification that didn't match any of the three men in the room.
In the garbage can on the hotel's third floor, the same floor as the men's room, police found a black vest with a pair of two-way radios, five packs of unopened Kool cigarettes, a marijuana pipe and three unfired shotgun shells. Police also found a pair of red shorts, which they believe Tulimasealii had discarded.
Officers interviewed Tanuvasa. He first told police he came to Motel 6 to visit Tulimasealii but later admitted to his part in the two reported robberies, the charges say. He said he was driving around with Tulimasealii, Reed and someone named "Niko." He said he was aware of the three's intentions when he saw they had guns, and that he drove them to the inn and the gas station, acting as a getaway driver.
The charges say police later identified "Niko" as Sila. The young man caused a mass response from police earlier this spring when, in an attempt to flee officers, he ran out onto the thin and unstable ice of Cheney Lake in east Anchorage. Officers were trying to serve the then-19-year-old Sila with a warrant for failure to comply with his conditions of probation. More than 20 officers surrounded the lake; spectators gathered to catch a glimpse of the man sitting in the middle of the frozen lake wearing only a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops. He eventually made his way to shore and the situation ended peacefully.
Sila was convicted of two crimes in 2011, disorderly conduct and burglary, according to court records.
Tulimasealii has an extensive rap sheet, which includes convictions for assault, disorderly conduct and theft.
The court imposed bail totaling $60,000 for the two men with criminal records. Tanuvasa and Reed's bails are half that total. All have had public defenders appointed, according to online court records. They all appeared in custody for pre-indictment hearings Tuesday in Anchorage.
Contact Jerzy Shedlock at jerzy(at)alaskadispatch.com. Follow him on Twitter @jerzyms.