Getaway car driver back before judge

The Daily Inter Lake

A woman who drove a getaway car with two small children in the rear seat after a botched armed robbery was back in court Thursday for a hearing to revoke her probation.

Prosecutors say Johna Criner violated the terms of her probation by drinking and driving.

She entered a general denial. No action was taken in Flathead District Court on the probation revocation.

Criner was given a 10-year suspended prison sentence and put on probation after participating in a 2005 attempted armed robbery at Evergreen Gas and Deli that went spectacularly wrong.

Richard Avila, then of Kalispell, walked into the convenience store and put a single can of beer on the counter, investigators said at the time. When the clerk told him the price, Avila demanded he empty the till.

The clerk told the man to get lost.

So Avila pulled a gun out of his waistband and pulled back the slide.

The gun jammed.

An amused customer in the store reportedly told Avila, "If you're going to rob a store, you might get a gun that works," investigators said.

Avila hustled out of the store and got into a 1980 black BMW two-door car. A blonde woman, later identified as Criner, was in the driver's seat and two children were in the back seat, witnesses told police.

A bulletin was issued to officers, describing the vehicle and passengers.

Deputies responding to the robbery call also heard about a car crash a few blocks away.

They found a black BMW that had hit a tree on Sleepy Hollow Drive. Criner was driving and two children were in the back seat, but she insisted there was no one with them.

A Highway Patrol trooper showed up and investigators checked to make sure the children, ages 5 and 7, were unhurt.

One of the children told officers what they suspected.

"Rich was with us, but he jumped out and ran that way," the child reportedly said.

Soon, a man walked up to the crash and told officers he had to talk to the woman. About that time, a witness from the store drove up and identified Avila as the attempted robber.

Avila was arrested for armed robbery and endangering the welfare of the two children. Criner was originally charged with accountability to armed robbery and endangering.

A 9-mm high-powered gun later was found at the home where the car crashed. The weapon was still jammed.