A man thought to be the armed robber sought in Monday's hold up of a service station in Dowagiac has been arrested and lodged in the Cass County Jail. Turns out he's a 30 year old Coloma man, and is due to be arraigned before Judge Stacey Rentfrow in a Cass County District Court room within the hour.
Christopher Baptiste Rhodes who lives on E. Becht Road in Coloma is being held on armed robbery charges according to Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz.
Authorities say Rhodes was the one responsible for the Monday, August 29th, robbery of the Marathon Gas Station at 801 Spruce Street in the city of Dowagiac, after he walked in shortly after 10:30 that night and confronted the clerk demanding cash. He is also accused of stealing the wallet of the lone customer in the station at that time. Neither the clerk nor the customer was hurt in the hold up.
Fitz says that the Dowagiac Police Department investigation alleges that a firearm was used in the crime so Rhodes is being charged with two counts of armed robbery, larceny in a building, Felon-in-Possession of a Firearm, and four counts of felony firearm. It was not immediately indicated if the felon in possession charges stem from an earlier criminal incident or is solely related to the hold up.
Still to be determined is whether or not Rhodes was responsible for a hold up at a South Haven service station and convenience store earlier in the evening. Authorities were quoted earlier in the week as finding similarities between the two crimes.
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Dowagiac Police have delivered further details in the arrest of Rhodes. They tell us that leads and information from the public helped officers to develop Rhodes as a suspect. He is currently on parole for an earlier armed robbery conviction that also occurred in Dowagiac 11 years ago in 2005. The Michigan Department of Corrections helped officers pinpoint Rhodes to a home in Coloma. A MDOC Agent and Coloma Township Police located Rhodes as well as evidence from the robbery, so Dowagiac Police went there as well, and collected evidence and arrested Rhodes.
Rhodes was arraigned this afternoon in Cass County 4th District Court and bond was set at $500,000. Dowagiac Police continue to work with South Haven authorities to determine if Rhodes was responsible for an armed robbery that same night prior to the hold up in Dowagiac.
