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Man gets 3 years for robbing those seeking phone

By Jessica Prokop, Columbian Local News Editor
Published: September 7, 2017, 7:30pm

A man who twice robbed people who met with him to purchase a cellphone was sentenced Thursday to more than three years in prison.

Sean K. Andres-Delacruz, 20, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to first-degree robbery in one case and second-degree robbery in the other.

He robbed a woman at gunpoint June 26 at Image Elementary School after she responded to an online ad to buy a cellphone. Then, on July 1, he robbed two siblings in the same fashion near a Hazel Dell sports complex, court records show.

Andres-Delacruz was arrested July 5 in Corvallis, Ore., in connection with the Hazel Dell robbery, and investigators later tied him to the earlier robbery.

Clark County sheriff’s deputies were called at about 7:20 p.m. July 1 to a robbery that occurred in the 3800 block of Northeast 80th Street. One of the victims told deputies that he and his sister contacted a man named “Marcus” on OfferUp.com, an app-based marketplace, to purchase a cellphone. They agreed to pay him $500 at the meeting place to make the exchange, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Upon meeting, the man — later identified by law enforcement as Andres-Delacruz — demanded the victims give him the money they brought. When the victims said they would call the police, he lifted his sweatshirt and exposed a black pistol tucked into the waistband of his pants, the affidavit states.

The victims gave Andres-Delacruz the money and left, but not before snapping a photo of him, court records said.

Andres-Delacruz was arrested after the photo was released to the media and more than a half-dozen tipsters contacted investigators identifying him as the robber, according to court documents.

Investigators then connected him to the June 26 robbery, in which Vancouver police were called at about 9:45 p.m. to the elementary school at 4400 N.E. 122nd Ave. The victim told police she was robbed after arranging to meet with someone through OfferUp.com to purchase a cellphone for $400, according to a separate probable cause affidavit.

The phone didn’t work, however, so the victim didn’t buy it. Andres-Delacruz pulled out a handgun from the waistband of his pants and took the money, the affidavit states.

In an interview with detectives, he said the weapon was a BB gun and that he threw it away after the July 1 robbery, court records said.

On Thursday, Andres-Delacruz was sentenced to a total of 41 months in prison and 18 months of community custody. He was also ordered to pay back the victims.

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