Trial set for man arrested after Presto armed robbery

Eddie Miguel Rivera

A Douglas County District Judge found enough evidence Tuesday linking a 36-year-old Lawrence man to an early-morning armed robbery last month to set the case for a May 14 trial.

Eddie Miguel Rivera was arrested Jan. 10 on suspicion of armed robbery in connection with an incident that morning at a Presto gas station, 1802 West 23rd St.

Store clerk Doug Wells said in court on Tuesday that a man in dark clothing and with his face covered demanded money while displaying what looked like part of a handgun. “I’m going to need all the money out of the register,” Wells said the man told him. “Do I need to show you my gun?”

Wells said the man then ran east out of the store and toward several nearby businesses. Rivera was found about a half hour later in a nearby alleyway, according to Capt. Stephen Zarnowiec of the Lawrence Police Department, who said Rivera also had a knife and “a wad of cash.” Two Lawrence detectives testified Tuesday that a handgun-shaped BB gun was later found nearby.

Police testified that gloves and a dark coat matching those described by the Presto clerk and seen on surveillance footage were found inside a car Rivera borrowed from his girlfriend, as were a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of Gatorade, which Wells said the robber took from the store.

Rivera is in jail on a $50,000 bond.