Man Robbed of $2 While Pushing 2-Year-Old in Stroller
From left, Juan Garcia, Christopher Mena, and Mario Moreno.
This happened in the 3600 block of Valley Ridge Road at its intersection with Marsh Lane, just off Walnut Hill. It’s where the neighborhood starts getting a bit dicey crime-wise as you move toward Bachman Lake, but I thought this deserved mention for sheer ignominy.
According to the police narrative, Hector Zapata Jr. was walking east on Valley Ridge when three men in a green 2001 Ford Focus pulled up beside him. One pointed a chrome, semi-automatic pistol at the man and demanded his wallet, at which point Zapata handed over the cash he was carrying. The Focus drove away, and Zapata called the police from the 7-Eleven at Marsh Lane and Northwest Highway.
Police stopped the vehicle for traffic violations in the 9700 block of Marsh Lane. Juan Ramiro Garcia, 22, Christopher Mena, 18, and Mario Andrew Moreno, 18, were arrested and charged with aggravated robbery.
Here’s the kicker: the man was pushing his 2-year-old in a stroller when he was robbed, according to an e-mail from Midway Hollow Extended Neighborhood Patrol head Sgt. Greg Fanucci. All three were high on cheese heroin, he wrote. And the loot from the robbery? Two bucks.
