Clark County sheriff’s investigators have apprehended the third suspect in a home-invasion robbery that occurred Dec. 4 in an apartment in Vancouver’s Sifton neighborhood.
Calvin J. Quichocho, 21, of Vancouver appeared Thursday morning in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of two counts each of first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault. Investigators apparently were unsure of his identity until March, according to court records.
Judge Gregory Gonzales on Thursday held Quichocho in lieu of $200,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Tony Lowe to defend him. His arraignment on the charges is scheduled for April 8.
Quichocho is accused of robbing a man and a woman at gunpoint inside a unit at the Prairie View Apartment Homes, 12611 N.E. 99th St.
Court records indicate he and two other suspects, Brandon M. English, 20, and John R. Lujan, 17, arranged to meet the man at his apartment under the ruse that they planned to buy marijuana from him. Instead, they stole the drugs, plus other valuables, according to court records.
Once the suspects were inside the apartment, Quichocho allegedly drew a firearm from his clothing and pointed it at the victims. English shoved Lujan onto the couch and told him to stay down, according to court records.
Quichocho then ordered the man and the woman to get on the ground, court records say.
After Lujan bound the man and woman with cords, Quichocho again pointed the gun at the victims and told the man that “the bullets in the firearm were for him,” wrote Clark County sheriff’s Detective Jared Stevens in a court affidavit.
Stevens wrote that “both (victims) stated they believed they would be shot, and said they felt that if they would try to escape or call for help, they would be hurt or killed.”
Quichocho and English then forced the victims into a bedroom closet and told them to stay inside for at least an hour, according to court records. Quichocho and English allegedly left the residence with the victims’ marijuana, an Xbox 360, a wallet, a purse and a cellphone. They left Lujan inside the apartment with the victims “in an attempt to act as if he was not involved in the theft,” Stevens wrote.
English and Lujan were arrested soon after the incident, but Quichocho remained at large for three months. Sheriff’s detectives received a tip as to his identity last month and showed his photograph to the two victims, who identified Quichocho as the man who robbed them at gunpoint, according to court records.
Deputy Prosecutor Dan Gasperino said Quichocho has extensive criminal convictions, including two counts of second-degree robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree burglary.
