Jeremy Simon Garcia, 20, of Austin was charged on Wednesday in Mower County District Court with felony first-degree aggravated robbery-dangerous weapon.

According to the court complaint, police were called at 9:50 p.m. on Nov. 11 about an armed robbery at Ankeny’s Mini Mart No. 1 at 1205 Oakland Place SE. Dispatch advised that two suspects were involved and had fled in a northwesterly direction. Police met with two clerks, a juvenile female and an adult female, who were upset and crying.

The juvenile clerk said they were behind the counter when the two masked suspects ran into the store. One of the suspects told them to “take out the money” and brandished a small pistol. The juvenile clerk said she thought it was a BB gun, but the suspect cocked the gun by pulling back the slide action. She handed him the money and the other suspect, later identified as a 16-year-old male, asked for a pack of Newport 100 cigarettes.

A police lieutenant viewed surveillance video and observed the juvenile suspect enter the store first, followed by the suspect with the gun, later identified as Garcia, the complaint states. The video showed the clerk giving the suspects money from the cash register and two bank bags from behind the counter. The robbers walked out of the store about a minute after they entered. The store’s owner said $2,305.63 in cash was taken.

The juvenile suspect was arrested on Nov. 13, telling police he had nothing to do with the robbery and was in Iowa with his girlfriend when the robbery occurred, the complaint states. He then said he did not want to talk about the robbery until he knew what kind of “deal” he would get from the prosecutor, but would identify the second suspect if the deal was “good enough.” While he agreed the video of the robbery showed that he was not the suspect with the gun, the juvenile was found to be in possession of a pack of Newport 100 cigarettes.

Garcia was interviewed  at the Mower County Law Enforcement Center on Monday, telling police the juvenile suspect robbed the store and that he knew who was with the juvenile, according to the complaint. Garcia initially denied being involved, then admitted to being with the juvenile suspect. He said the juvenile suspect planned the robbery because he wanted to “get out of town” and the pistol used was a BB gun. Police executed a search warrant on Garcia’s residence and found a black BB gun in his bedroom.

A review of Garcia’s criminal record shows prior convictions for theft as well as a conviction for “bail jumping” in Texas. He recently pleaded guilty to failure to appear on a felony charge.

Garcia will appear in court again on Dec. 10.