A Grantsville man charged in connection with an armed robbery in January accepted a plea deal in 3rd District Court Tuesday morning.
Christopher Bettcher, 20, pleaded guilty to an amended count of third-degree felony theft by extortion and third-degree felony aggravated assault; a misdemeanor count of theft was dismissed without prejudice.
Benjamin Adams, 20, and Dalton Romero, 23, both of Tooele, were also charged with first-degree felony aggravated robbery, third-degree felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor theft.
Romero was scheduled for a roll call hearing on Aug. 8 at 9 a.m. and Adams is scheduled for a roll call hearing on June 27 at 9 a.m., with both hearings before Judge Robert Adkins.
The charges against Adams, Bettcher and Romero were submitted after the robbery was brought to light during a missing person investigation in January, according to Tooele City police reports connected to the case. The missing person in the case was an alleged victim in the robbery case.
A week prior to the missing person report, Bettcher called the male victim for a ride, according to the victim’s girlfriend, who was present at the time, the police report said. Bettcher asked the victim to pull into the parking lot at Elton Park so his sister could pick him up.
After the car was parked, the victim’s girlfriend said another vehicle pulled into the parking lot and two men got out, according to the police report. One of the men opened the driver side door and punched the male victim, the girlfriend said.
One of the assailants pulled out what appeared to be a gun and pointed it at the male victim’s head, according to the victim’s girlfriend in the police report. The men, identified by the victim’s girlfriend as Romero and Adams, demanded the victims possessions, took his cell phone then left.
The victim’s girlfriend said they did not report the robbery due to concerns of retaliation, the police report said. She said she was able to identify Romero and Adams despite the fact they wore bandanas over their faces.
After he was picked up by Grantsville City police, Bettcher admitted to being present for the robbery but said he did not arrange the meeting, the report said. He positively identified Romero and Adams as the assailants and said he got out of the victim’s car and ran when they told him to leave with them.
Romero told police Bettcher had set up the meeting at Elton Park after Adams alleged the victim had taken money from him, the police report said.
Bettcher is scheduled to return to 3rd District Court for sentencing before Adkins on Aug. 8 at 1:30 p.m.