Judge sets $700,000 bail in La Center gas station robbery

A 49-year-old Portland man appeared Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court to face allegations that he robbed a man at a La Center gas station.

Court records show Julian Karim Mackey was booked Tuesday into the Clark County Jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery.

La Center police officers were dispatched around 3 a.m. to a Shell gas station at 2814 N.W. 319th St. The victim called 911 after he was confronted by a large man who flashed a gun and demanded his wallet, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The victim told responding officers that the suspect pulled up the bottom of his sweater and displayed a pistol in his waistband, according to the affidavit. He handed over his wallet, and the assailant took his car keys and tossed them so he couldn’t get inside his car and use his cellphone to call for help, court records say.

The victim told police he had $2,300 and three credit cards in his wallet when he was robbed.

Washington State Patrol troopers pulled over a green SUV associated with the suspect a short time later on southbound Interstate 5 at Marine Drive in Portland; the victim fingered Mackey as the robber, stating he was “100 percent sure” of the identification, the affidavit says.

The allegations do not say whether law enforcement recovered the stolen wallet.

Judge Robert Lewis set Mackey’s bail at $700,000. An arraignment hearing was scheduled for Feb. 1.