Chimo Guns robber in custody

Dec. 10, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - An Anchorage man who stuck a 9 mm Smith & Wesson in a Wasilla gun-store owner's face and took $25 from the cash register was arrested two days later.

Christopher Irick, 21, unhappy about not getting a cash refund for some 9 mm ammunition, entered Chimo Guns shortly before closing time on Dec. 3, demanded a refund at gun point and fled on foot to his car in the Carrs parking lot, according to a police report.

About 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 5, Ruth Josten and Doug Sonerholm, investigators with the Wasilla Police Department, teamed up with two detectives from the Anchorage robbery division and stopped Irick in Anchorage as he was driving his dark green Lexus, according to Josten.

Irick had the Smith & Wesson Model 39 with him, Josten said.

Officers impounded the Lexus and took Irick back to his home off Danilynn Circle, according to the police report.

&#8220He was very stoic and complacent,” Josten said. &#8220We had him sit down and read him his rights. He said, ‘Nope, I'm not going to talk,' and said not a word for about 30 minutes.”

Irick sat, handcuffed, under the watchful eye of two officers, while the others executed a search warrant, Josten said. After about a half hour sitting quietly and staring straight ahead, Irick suddenly jumped up, knocked over a table and ran for the door, she said. Several officers worked to take him down, she said.

&#8220He fought really hard,” Josten said.

Irick kicked and injured the leg of an Anchorage police officer, she said.

The investigators took Irick to Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility, where his bail was set at $25,000 and a court-approved third-party custodian, the report said.

According to court records, Irick was arraigned in Palmer District Court Thursday afternoon on charges of first-degree robbery, third-degree assault on the gun-store owner, fourth-degree assault on the police officer and resisting arrest.

Roy Wallis, Chimo owner, said Irick's 9 mm was cocked and Irick's finger was on the trigger when Irick put the gun to Wallis' head, saying he would kill the 60-year-old proprietor unless he got a refund for some ammunition. Wallis said he believed Irick would have killed him if other people had not been in the store. A friend who was in the store followed Irick on foot to the Lexus, which was parked in Carrs parking lot, Wallis said.

The Chimo robbery was the fourth armed robbery in the Valley this year. In January, the Palmer Carrs, the Susitna Professional Pharmacy and The Store in the Butte were held up. Until Irick struck Chimo, it seemed as though January was the unofficial &#8220armed robbery month” in the Valley.

&#8220He didn't know that,” Josten said. &#8220He wasn't from the Valley.”

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.