Crime & Courts

Police: Anchorage man arrested for armed robbery of liquor store

Police say a 27-year-old man has been arrested and charged for an early morning armed robbery of a South Anchorage liquor store.

Miguel Batista faces charges of robbery, theft, vehicle theft and assault.

Shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday, officers responded to the robbery at Party Time Liquor on Lake Otis Parkway, Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Renee Oistad said in a news release.

"The lone suspect had entered the building, brandished a rifle at the employee, and demanded cash," Oistad said.

As Batista left the store, he encountered another employee in the parking lot who was arriving for work; Batista took the man's cellphone and car keys and left in the employee's car, police said.

No one was harmed during the robbery, police said.

Police found the stolen car at 2:34 a.m. in a neighborhood several blocks from the store, they said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Batista was identified about three hours later when police responded to the 6000 block of Spruce Meadows Drive for a "verbal disagreement taking place outside," the release said.

Police found three men at the scene, one of whom was armed with a rifle. All three men were taken to APD for questioning, Oistad said. That's when police determined Batista robbed the liquor store, she said.

"It was also discovered that the rifle used in the robbery had been stolen from a local store earlier in the year," she said.

Batista was housed at the Anchorage jail Wednesday afternoon. His bail will be set at an initial court appearance Thursday.

At the time of his arrest, Batista also had two outstanding theft-related felony warrants.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

ADVERTISEMENT