A Superior man who flashed a knife when he robbed two Spur stations in February will spend the next five years behind bars.
Michael Anthony Garcia, 29, pleaded guilty Friday to two amended charges of felony robbery. Judge Michael Lucci sentenced him to10 years in the Wisconsin state prison system -- five initial confinement and five in extended supervision. Conditions of his supervision include having no contact with the convenience stores, maintaining absolute sobriety and paying court costs.
Charges of misdemeanor battery and felony robbery with the use of force, both stemming from a separate incident, were dismissed.
The first robbery took place at about 5 a.m. Feb. 23 at the Spur station at 1706 Tower Ave. According to the charges, Garcia walked into the convenience store with a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. He went to the back cooler and came to the counter with a bottle of orange juice. When the clerk asked him if he wanted anything else, he said, "A pack of cigarettes and the money from the register" and pulled up his shirt to reveal a knife in his front waistband.
Three days later, Garcia used similar tactics to rob Hammond Spur, 502 Hammond Ave. At approximately 11 p.m., he walked up to the counter and told the clerk to give him money from the register. When the clerk hesitated, Garcia pulled up his shirt to show the knife in his waistband.
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Superior Police officers executed a search warrant at Garcia's South Range residence on Feb. 27. After viewing store surveillance tapes, Garcia admitted to police that he had robbed both stores. He also admitted that he had a "fixed-blade Rambo knife with a compass" and that the hat he was wearing at the time of the interview was the same one he wore to the Hammond Spur robbery.
