Two armed robbery suspects arrested after police surround Lansing apartment

LANSING — Lansing police arrested two people after a man wearing black clothes and a white mask robbed a convenience store employee at gunpoint late Tuesday.

The man walked into Toolan's Market on West Saginaw Street at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and pointed a gun at the clerk, demanding money, Lansing Police Department Public Information Director Robert Merritt said.

He left with an undisclosed amount of money before police arrived, Merritt said. 

Once officers got a description of the suspect and a vehicle they believed was connected to the robbery, they found the vehicle in a parking lot at the Walnut Park Apartments and found evidence from the robbery inside the vehicle, Merritt said.

Officers from the Lansing Police Department, Michigan State Police and FBI surrounded around the West Willow Street apartment complex Wednesday morning. They spotted a man fitting the suspects description leaving an apartment, Merritt said.

Officers arrested the 37-year-old Lansing man, who Merritt said they believe played a role in the robbery, and continued to monitor the apartment complex.

A negotiator spoke with a 41-year-old Detroit man inside the apartment who later surrendered to police. Merritt said police believe he was the man who robbed the store. 

Information was sent to prosecutors for charges. Merritt expects both men will be arraigned Thursday. 

Merritt said police are not ruling out that the two men may have been involved with a series of robberies Lansing has seen since July. 

Nobody was evacuated from the apartment complex and no injuries were reported. 

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Contact reporter Mark Johnson at 517-377-1026 or majohnson2@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @bymarkjohnson.