Glimpse of pepper spray robber’s underwear on security footage helps ID suspect

CASPER, Wyo. — Surveillance video from a north Casper liquor store reportedly shows a robbery suspect’s red, white and blue checkered boxers as he bends over to scoop cartons of cigarettes into a black trash bag, according to Casper Police Department Detective Leonard Jacobs’s report.

Though there were three people in the suspect vehicle when it was finally disabled after a pursuit, it was Manuel Armenta Serrano, 53, who was found to be wearing the matching boxers later at the hospital.

Serrano is charged with aggravated robbery, battery, grand theft, eluding and interference. An $80,000 cash-only bond was set at his initial appearance last week. He waived his preliminary hearing in circuit court on Thursday and will next enter a formal plea in district court. He is presumed innocent unless proven or pleading guilty.

The clerk was alone in the liquor store on the 600 block of North Poplar at 8:44 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3, according to the report. The clerk said the suspect entered the store in a camouflage-patterned face mask. He said he tried to greet the man twice before the suspect pepper-sprayed him. The clerk immediately ran to the bathroom, locked himself in and called 911.

One of the responding officers was flagged down by a woman who said she’d seen a man carrying a garbage bag hurriedly get into a dark-colored Ford Explorer that headed south on Poplar Street.

The vehicle information was radioed out and the vehicle was seen parked near 13th Street and South Boxelder. The vehicle immediately fled, according to the report. The pursuit continued for about 10 minutes through the neighborhood, and two of the tires were spike-stripped as the Explorer left the neighborhood along Coulter Drive onto West 13th Street via Brigham Young Street, near the fair and rodeo grounds.

The vehicle then turned onto King Boulevard, where it finally came to rest. One man was arrested near the vehicle while a woman and the driver, believed to be Serrano, fled on foot. The woman soon yielded to commands to stop. The driver continued to flee and the officer reportedly gave several commands before unleashing K-9 Buster, who pursued the suspect over a short hill.

The driver was then successfully taken into custody and taken to the hospital with a reported knee injury. Detective Jacobs noted that Serrano’s belt and shoes also had features matching the suspect’s in the security video.

A garbage bag full of cigarette cartons and several other items of clothing matching the security footage were also found in the vehicle. The man first arrested on scene told police he had driven to pick up Serrano after Serrano asked him to give him “a hand with something.” He said Serrano took the driver’s seat during a brief stop before proceeding to where they were eventually spotted by police.

The suspect reportedly made off from the liquor store with:

• Three cartons of Kool 100’s ($94.60 per carton)
• Two cartons of Kool Softs ($94.60 per carton)
• One carton of Marlboro Red 72’s ($84.80 per carton)
• Four cartons of Marlboro Kings ($91.80 per carton)
• Two cartons of Marlboro 100’s ($91.80 per carton)
• Nine cartons of Marlboro Black 100’s ($81.80 per carton)

The total value of the cigarettes is about $2,406.80, according to the report.