by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
The Sartell man accused of robbing the BP gas station in Sartell has been charged in Stearns County District Court with one count of second-degree aggravated robbery.
Douglas Wayne Gravelle, 32, is charged with the robbery he allegedly perpetrated at 9:11 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17 at the gas station, located at the intersection of Pinecone Road and 2nd Street S.
According to the complaint report, Gravelle walked up to the counter and told the clerk, “I know you’re really busy, but this is a robbery. You need to put all the money in this bag.”
The complaint also accuses Gravelle of telling the clerk or implying to the clerk through body language (his hand in a coat pocket) that he was carrying a hand gun. He did not reveal any gun, the clerk noted. After getting the money, Gravelle walked out of the store and fled.
Just days after the robbery, the Sartell Police Department released security-camera video stills of a man entering and leaving the store. They were published in local media, including the Sartell Newsleader. The police station received many calls from people who had seen the man or who knew his name. From those tips, Sartell police were able to trace the man, who had been arrested while at his sister’s residence in St. Cloud on a warrant for a controlled-substance offense from Wright County where he used to live.
Once Gravelle was picked up by the police, he was placed in a line-up, and the clerk he allegedly robbed picked him out from the line-up.
During his arraignment in Stearns County Court before Judge Mary Mahler, Gravelle’s bail was set at $100,000 – or at $25,000 with many conditions, including an order not to have any sort of contact with the clerk he allegedly robbed.
