Fugitive in local armed robbery nabbed in Iowa
Delmer Weiss Robbins
A man accused of robbing an Owatonna business at gunpoint was arrested in north Iowa, where he was also charged with drug possession and interfering with official acts.
Delmer George Weiss Robbins, 29, remains in custody in the Cerro Gordo County Jail. Bond was set at $22,800.
He was listed as a fugitive after Owatonna Police identified him as the suspect in an armed robbery the morning of Sept. 25.
Police say Robbins entered a business on Cedar Avenue South, asking for change and laundry detergent.
After receiving both, he walked to a table and retrieved a gun from his backpack, the report says, then “walked quickly toward” the woman and demanded all the money.
According to the criminal complaint, Robbins took more than $1,000 in cash and coins, grabbed the woman’s phone and smashed it on a desk. He then shut her in a back room and told her to stay there until he was gone.
The woman left the room and called law enforcement when she heard a car start, then leave.
Surveillance video of the incident revealed a man entering the business and pacing back and forth while interacting with the woman. It allegedly shows the man reaching into a backpack and pulling out a black pistol, which he held in his right hand and pointed at the victim.
The man can also be seen taking money from a money drawer, then smashing a cell phone, the complaint says.
The man was ultimately identified as Robbins, reportedly by the woman in a photo lineup, and a nationwide warrant was issued. He’s been charged locally with first-degree aggravated robbery and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
Court records indicated Robbins also has a warrant out of Blue Earth County for third-degree burglary and theft, issued Sept. 14.
On Sept. 28, the Cerro Gordo County Sheriff’s Office received information that Robbins was in the Mason City, Iowa, area.
A deputy spotted him that evening. He resisted arrest, the CGSO said, but was taken into custody a short time later. He was allegedly in possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.
According to a news release, he also has a warrant in Worth County, Iowa, for failure to appear.
It’s unclear when he will return to Steele County.