ER - Omholt preliminary hearing begins

Omholt preliminary hearing begins
by Kara D. Machado, 2/9/2007

Jason Ryan Omholt appeared in court Thursday to begin preliminary hearing proceedings in regard to a November 2006 armed robbery case.

As of Thursday, Omholt, 28, of Eureka, has been charged with robbery, being a felon in possession of a gun, evading police, the use of tear gas and a special strike allegation, said Humboldt County Deputy District Attorney Arnie Klein.

The strike allegation was added because of Omholt’s Oct. 28, 1997, conviction stemming from an incident in which he “stabbed a person in the eye over a gang conflict,” Klein has said.

“That constitutes a strike and would double any sentence Mr. Omholt is convicted of,” Klein said.

Humboldt County Chief Conflict Counsel Glenn Brown, Omholt’s attorney, said Omholt has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Thursday’s preliminary hearing — after which a judge will determine if there is sufficient evidence to warrant a trial — stems from incidents that occurred on Nov. 15, 2006, Klein said.

Bobbie Grant was the only witness to take the stand Thursday.

Grant, 61, testified that she was working at Roger’s Market — located in the 700 block of School Road in McKinleyville — with her adult son during the robbery.

Grant said she was sitting behind the U-shaped counter at the market on the evening of Nov. 15, 2006, when the robbery occurred.

At first, Grant said she didn’t see anyone suspicious, but then saw one robber pass the counter, come back behind it and say, “Open the register,” in a “very mean voice.”

Grant said she opened the register and stood there until the robber told her to sit down.

“He took the money out of the register and under the drawer,” Grant said. “Then, he came up behind me.”

The robber then pulled back Grant’s head by her hair and sprayed her with what she described as pepper spray.

“He sprayed down and up and up and down on my face,” Grant said. “(The spray went in) my eyes, in my nose and in my mouth ...”

Grant said she wasn’t “really all that afraid” when the robber took the money because she was robbed a couple years ago.

She was, however, “shocked” when the robber sprayed her with pepper spray.

“I didn’t expect it,” Grant said, “because he already had the money. It was a total shock.”

Grant said she believed there was a second robber in the store, that her son was on the floor on the opposite side of the counter during the robbery and described the robber who pepper sprayed her as wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a mask.

Although Grant said she believed Omholt to be the robber she encountered Nov. 15, 2006, she said all she could see were the robber’s eyes and that Omholt’s “squinty eyes” were similar to those belonging to the robber.

Grant also testified that she believed the robber had a gun.

“I feel I (saw a gun),” Grant said. “I am very certain I felt threatened by a gun because when (the robber) pulled the back of my head, I thought I was going to be shot (in the head).”

Since the robbery, Grant said she no longer works at the market and has neck and anxiety problems stemming from her encounter with the robber.

Throughout Thursday’s proceedings — which were interrupted when Grant had to take a break because she was “really stressed out” — Omholt sat by Brown and would occasionally look back to smile at two family members and a friend in the spectator seating, write on paper or look at various court officials.

According to archives, a Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office news release stated that after the Nov. 15, 2006, robbery, a deputy began following a vehicle described as the robbery suspect vehicle.

The suspect vehicle sped up and spun around, driving “directly towards the deputy’s vehicle, causing the deputy to have to move to avoid being hit,” archives indicate.

The pursuit continued to Thiel Avenue, where the suspect vehicle jumped the curb and came to rest on a pile of gravel.

That is when the deputy saw a person leave the vehicle and run.

Inside the vehicle, a 30-year-old woman was found — she was arrested but not charged, Klein said. Also in the vehicle was a loaded 9-mm handgun, archives indicate.

Omholt and his stepbrother Zachary Cruz Cooke, then 17, were identified as alleged suspects in the robbery within a couple days of the robbery.

Thursday’s preliminary hearing dealt with one of four cases against Omholt.

On Jan. 29, Omholt was bound over for trial on two other cases: one that stems from an Oct. 23, 2006, incident in which he allegedly assaulted a man with a deadly weapon, and the second stemming from an Aug. 20, 2006, incident in which Omholt allegedly made threats to a man at a Eureka motel and Eureka gas station.

The fourth case — to be addressed at a future preliminary hearing — stems from the Dec. 22, 2006, attempted murder of HCSO Deputy Justin Braud, a peace officer.

Omholt was arrested Jan. 3 after a three-hour standoff in Eureka.

Omholt, Cooke and Waymond Hiat Kelly, 24, had been linked to a spree of armed robberies in Eureka, Arcata and McKinleyville that date back to October, archives indicate.

Cooke, 18, was fatally shot on Jan. 4 in Eureka by members of a collaborative law enforcement task force formed to investigate the robberies.

Kelly was arrested Jan. 5 after a 100-mile-per-hour chase along U.S. Highway 101 and State Highway 20 and later arraigned in Mendocino County for joyriding, receiving stolen property and having a prison prior.

In regard to Omholt’s alleged connection to the other robberies, Klein said, “There is an ongoing investigation and, as the evidence develops, we’ll file the appropriate charges against Mr. Omholt.”

Omholt is scheduled to return to Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Dale A. Reinholtsen’s courtroom today at 8:45 a.m. to continue his preliminary hearing proceedings.

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