Girl, 15, arrested in armed convenience store robbery

A 15-year-old girl appeared Wednesday in Clark County Juvenile Court on suspicion of robbing a convenience store with a realistic-looking BB gun last week in Salmon Creek.

Judge Rich Melnick ordered that Michaela A. Sanchez remain in the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center at least until her arraignment Nov. 18 on a charge of first-degree robbery.

Police were called to a 7-Eleven at 12908 N.E. Highway 99 on Nov. 7 on a report of an armed robbery.

Sanchez is accused of entering the convenience store in the early morning, pointing a handgun at the store clerk and demanding money. The clerk gave her $15, and Sanchez fled the scene, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court.

Police said they searched the area and attempted to track her, without success.

They apprehended her Tuesday after her parents took her to Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center for a mental evaluation, the affidavit says. Her parents said she was behaving oddly and confessed to robbing a 7-Eleven store, according to the court document.

Police later recovered the weapon at her home, which turned out to be a BB gun.

Vancouver attorney Tom Phelan has been retained to defend Sanchez.