Alert staff spots man wanted for armed robbery playing video poker
EUGENE, Ore. - James Trunnell was playing video poker at his Porky's Palace Restaurant when one of his employees recognized the man sitting at the machine next to him as the man wanted in a string of armed robberies in Eugene and Springfield.
"The employee recognized the person and called 911," Trunnell told KVAL News.
The bust at the Highway 99 business was caught on a security camera.
"Here comes the officers from inside the building," Trunnell said, narrating the video. "They apprehended the suspect on the sidewalk outside the building."
Officers took Derek John Bouchet, 27, into custody on 13 counts of robbery, 3 counts of robbery, resisting arrest, felon in possession of a firearm and possession of methamphetamine.
Police had been on his trail before officers in Springfield and Eugene determined the same man - believed to be Bouchet - robbed two different Shari's restaurants at gunpoint.
When police issued a public plea for helping locating Bouchet, an employee at Porky's put a photo on a cellphone for future reference.
All 13 robberies involved a gun, which is unusual in robberies, said Sgt. Dick Jones with the Springfield Police Department.
"That's not common," he said. "We'll get guys who will do one or two robberies, but to actually produce one and be out and aggressive with people with a gun in your hand is not a very common thing."
At the end of the day, catching their suspect was a win for police.
"That always does feel good, I think, for all of us," Jones said.
And for Porky's employees, it's a job well done.
"They should be rewarded for it," Trunnell said. "I can't afford to reward them, but they should be rewarded somehow."
