2 arrested in Modesto store stickups

Officers have arrested two men suspected of robbing a west Modesto market at gunpoint twice in the past two weeks. Police found them inside a home a few blocks from the store shortly after the second robbery occurred Wednesday morning.

Leonard Jackson, 20, and Harold Beck, 18, both of Modesto, were booked at the Stanislaus County Jail on two counts of conspiracy to commit a robbery and two counts of being armed while committing a felony.

Jackson was charged with three counts of robbery and Beck with two. They were being held at the jail Wednesday night.

Officer Christopher Adams, a Modesto police spokesman, said detectives have gathered evidence linking Jackson to a third robbery in early January at a business in northwest Modesto. Adams declined to provide further details about the third robbery, fearing it might harm the investigation, which could result in additional arrests.

Wednesday's robbery occurred about 10:45 a.m. at Joe's Market in the 700 block of Sutter Avenue, near Rouse Avenue. Two men wearing bandannas over their faces, one of them carrying a handgun, entered the store.

Adams said the men ordered the store clerk to open the cash register and demanded money. The robbers then left the store with an undisclosed amount of cash and some cigarettes.

Police responded to the area, looking for the robbers. Within minutes, an officer spotted a man matching the suspect description in the 800 block of Colorado Avenue, a few blocks southeast of the store.

Adams said the man ran from police into a home. Officers surrounded the house, then used a public address system to order the suspects out of the home. Jackson and Beck eventually came out and were apprehended.

The store clerk identified them as the robbers, Adams said.

Officers recovered evidence from the robbery, including a loaded handgun believed to have been used Wednesday. Adams said the officers also recovered the stolen cash and cigarettes before returning them to the store owner.

Detectives said they have gathered information linking Beck and Jackson to a second robbery at Joe's Market on Jan. 23. Adams said in that incident, two men, one armed with a gun, took cash, cigarettes, lottery tickets and an 18-pack of beer.

Bee staff writer Rosalio Ahumada can be reached at rahumada@modbee.com or (209) 578-2394.