Taken by force or fear

COEUR d’ALENE — The person who robbed Jordan’s Grocery Wednesday in Coeur d’Alene may have used an air gun, but police are not certain of that yet.

Neighbors, however, are sure of one thing.

“It’s getting to be a tough neighborhood,” a store patron said.

According to Coeur d’Alene police, a person wearing a hoodie and bandana covering part of their face walked into the market around 9 p.m. on the corner at 1036 N. 15th St., pointed a handgun at the cashier and demanded money.

The cashier emptied the cash register, turned over the booty, and the person left on foot, according to police.

Police are looking for a black man who is between 5-10 and 6-feet tall with a thin build. His image was recorded by a store surveillance camera. The suspect was wearing a black jacket over a light colored hoodie, black athletic pants with a gray stripe and black and white Converse tennis shoes.

In the surveillance camera photo, the suspect appears to point a long-barrel BB or pellet pistol at the cashier.

Wednesday’s robbery is the latest at Jordan’s in two years. A Post Falls man was sentenced last summer in First District Court to between 5 and 15 years in prison for robbing the small grocer near Lakes Middle School in March with a BB gun. Vincent K. Juarez, 18, stole $584 to buy marijuana, according to court records. After his conviction, Juarez completed a prison rider program, and was placed on probation.

The latest robber may have used a mock handgun as well, but authorities said the law doesn’t distinguish if a real or fake weapon is used to commit the crime.

According to Idaho law, if you take something from a person by force or fear it is deemed a robbery. The victim doesn’t need to distinguish if a gun is real. Fear is the only element that must be present, according to state code.

Anyone with information about Wednesday’s incident is urged to call police at (208) 769-2320.