By Patricia Bogumil
Editor
A Union Grove man who reportedly managed to run off with just a pack of cigarettes from the Dover Food Mart, despite threatening to kill the clerk unless she gave him all the money in her cash register, faces multiple charges in Racine County Circuit Court.
According to the criminal complaint, Michael R. Gleason, whose last address is given as Mill Avenue in Union Grove, walked behind the service counter at the food mart July 5 and ordered the clerk four times to put all the money from the cash register into a white plastic bag he handed her.
The clerk said that while he was demanding the money, Gleason shoved his hands into a front pants pocket, repeatedly saying “I will kill you,” which led her to believe he was armed and she feared for her life.
The clerk said she told Gleason to get out from behind the counter, promising to open the cash register when he did, but Gleason became impatient and tried opening the register himself several times.
The clerk stated that she tried to distract Gleason, and then began banging on the window behind her to try to get people outside to come in to help. Gleason then grabbed a pack of cigarettes off the cash register and fled out the front door.
Sheriff’s Department investigators reviewed surveillance video coverage of the incident and ran the license plate of the vehicle in which the suspect drove off, which came back to Gleason.
A search of the area then located the vehicle parked elsewhere in Union Grove, and it was towed to the Sheriff’s Office Substation.
Gleason was taken into custody when he returned to the area looking for his missing car.
Officers also interviewed a woman they identified who was seen on the surveillance video as being with Gleason outside the gas station at the time of the robbery.
She denied knowing that Gleason had gone in to rob the store, but said she was aware that Gleason had stolen some cigarettes while in there.
She said that after leaving the gas station, they drove to a cemetery in Union Grove, where Gleason’s uncle has a plot.
While there, they argued over being kicked out of her parents’ house and having to live in his car, she said, and Gleason struck her, injuring her head and neck.
Gleason at first reportedly denied asking the clerk for money; when confronted with both audio and video recordings of the incident, he said he did not remember doing that and expressed remorse for terrorizing the clerk. Gleason reportedly admitted that he had left without paying for the cigarettes.
Gleason faces one count of felony armed robbery with threat of force; and two misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct, each with domestic abuse assessments.
He made an initial appearance in court July 8 and is next scheduled in court for a July 18 preliminary hearing.
A $20,000 cash bond has been set; as of press time Wednesday, he remains in the Racine County Jail.
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