Sale of toy gun goes wrong; teen accused of robbing youth

A Vancouver teen has been accused of robbing another teen of an air gun during a toy gun sale gone bad Wednesday night, according to court documents.

Vancouver Police officers responded Wednesday night to a 911 call of an armed robbery near Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard and Northeast Ward Road, near the Armed Forces Reserve Center, according to a probable cause declaration filed in court Thursday.

The 17-year-old victim said he was meeting there with Adrian Daniel Ruiz, 18, to sell Ruiz an Airsoft rifle when Ruiz allegedly pulled a gun and held it to the seller’s head, court records said.

Ruiz then told him to delete text messages from his phone and hand over the pellet gun and $40 he was carrying, according to court records.

Investigators said the victim had a license plate number for the vehicle Ruiz allegedly left in, and later identified Ruiz from a driver’s license photo, according to court records.

Officers later found Ruiz in the car wearing clothes described by the victim, the records said.

Court records said that Ruiz admitted there was some kind of altercation during the sale, and that he stole the Airsoft gun, but he denied ever pointing a gun at the teen.

A plastic gun and the stolen Airsoft gun were recovered from Ruiz’s car, court documents said.

Ruiz was arrested on suspicion of first-degree robbery. His bail was set Thursday morning at $10,000.

His arraignment, where he may be formally charged, is scheduled for Nov. 4.