A man and a woman arrested on suspicion of robbing a Durango Domino’s Pizza will be prosecuted in Grand Junction.
The couple from Sacramento, California, Michael Ortiz, 33, and Chanzie Cox, 28, are suspected of robbing a string of restaurants in California and Colorado, including the Domino’s Pizza in Durango.
“They were on a crime spree,” said Lt. Ray Shupe, spokesman for the Durango Police Department.
The two were arrested Jan. 11 in Roseville, California, while driving a stolen car. But it was only recently Durango police connected them to the local crime.
The couple are believed to have robbed the Domino’s Pizza on Florida Road on Dec. 23. Ortiz told the manager he had a gun and was robbing the store, according to a police statement.
The manager gave Ortiz an undisclosed amount of money from the safe. Domino’s surveillance video footage revealed Ortiz fled in a Ford Mustang.
Officers were unable to locate the vehicle at the time.
The couple are believed to have robbed two other locations in the state of Colorado: an Outback Steakhouse in Grand Junction on Dec. 24 and an Old Chicago Restaurant in Silverthorne on Dec. 28.
On Jan. 11, officers in California arrested Cox, who was driving a stolen car from Frisco, California. When officers in California stopped the couple, Ortiz jumped out of the passenger side and fled on foot but was caught. Officers in California were looking for the vehicle because it had been used in two other armed robberies in that state.
Officers were able to download information from a GPS navigation unit inside the stolen vehicle and give the information to detectives in Colorado. The Colorado detectives found the navigation unit was at all three robbery locations in Colorado during the crimes, even though the two were not driving the same car.
A victim in Grand Junction also identified Ortiz in a photo lineup.
The couple are being held without bail and are awaiting extradition to Grand Junction to face charges of aggravated robbery.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
