Hospitality pair not so hospitable to robbers
Two armed bandits tried to rob a Kalispell motel on Saturday, but a quick-thinking office manager slammed the door on them.
Two armed bandits tried to rob a Kalispell motel on Saturday, but a quick-thinking office manager slammed the door on them.
Minutes later, the pair were in the West Valley, robbing a Batavia Lane convenience store.
Denise Lewis and her husband, Tom, just recently started managing the Hilltop Inn on U.S. 2. They live in an apartment next to the office, together with their 9-year-old son.
When the robbers entered the office at about 9:20 p.m., Denise started to come out of the apartment, thinking they were customers.
"They were fully masked," she said. "Even their eyes were covered. They were the most bizarre, ninja-looking things I'd ever seen.
"The one in front pointed a rifle straight at me and told me to give him the money. I slammed the door and locked it, and yelled 'Shotgun!' at my husband. He came and secured the door while my son and I hid in another room. I called 911 and in about three minutes there was a SWAT team and police officers all over the place."
Lewis only got a quick look at the robbers, but she still gave police a basic description.
"They were about 5-7 to 5-9 and weighed 150 to 175 pounds," she said. "The one who spoke had a young voice. Afterwards, every time I closed my eyes, I could picture them. It was very scary. There was only about two inches of door between me and them. It was just the Lord giving me the wisdom to slam the door and lock it."
About 10 minutes later, while the police were talking with Lewis and her husband about the attempted robbery, a call came in that a pair of masked men with a rifle had robbed a West Valley Conoco station.
Kalispell police Sgt. Allen Bardwell said the robbers got away with some cash that time, but it probably wasn't much.
"This could just be a group that's running and that needed some gas money," Bardwell said. "Right now, we're looking at a wide range of possibilities. It could be two or three people. One of them might be a female. This could also be the same group that stole a couple of cars in Libby recently. There are some rifles missing in that case."
No one saw or heard a vehicle in either robbery attempt, but given the distance and short amount of time between the two events, Bardwell said they obviously had to have one.
He also praised the Lewises for the way they handled themselves.
"They did a good job," he said. "They were thinking on their feet."
Denise said she and Tom were pleased that their first experience with something like this worked out so well.
"This has been a good break-in for us … no pun intended," she said. "We make a good team. After talking about it, we've decided to stay in the hospitality business."