Gunmen force worker to help rob grocery

COOPERSVILLE, Mich. (WOOD) - Detectives are trying to determine if a Facebook posting may have made a Family Fare manager an easy mark for an armed robbery this morning.

The 20-year-old victim, on his Facebook page, listed his job as "Cash Office" at the Family Fare.

"That's one of the things we're looking into now, if that may have played a role," said Ottawa County Sheriff's Lt. Mark Bennett. "I certainly don't know at this point, but certainly that particular information was open to the public, and that's concerning."

"My advice to the public would be not to put those kinds of postings on your Facebook wall," Bennett added.

The victim -- whose Facebook page also shows he's a criminal justice student -- told deputies he was leaving for work shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday when two men armed with handguns confronted him outside his home. Both wore ski masks, the victim told police.

One of the gunmen forced him to drive to the Family Fare about 2.5 miles away at 1181 W. Randall Street, the victim told deputies. It's not clear what the other gunman did.

Once at the store, the gunman ordered the victim to go inside and take cash. The gunman stayed outside.

Detectives said the victim may have had a good reason for not calling police from inside the store.

"There were some threats made," Bennett said. "I can't can't get into the exact threat, but that may or may not have played a part into his actions."

The victim told deputies he was forced then to drive the suspect in his own car north on 68th Avenue to Roosevelt Road, where the gunman forced him out of the car. The suspect then left with the second gunman, detectives said.

The victim said they escaped in a white pickup truck without a bed and headed south on 68th Avenue.

Detectives said they had no reason to doubt the victim's account, though they said it's still under investigation.

"It's a rather peculiar story in that these things don't happen obviously every day, and it's a little bit out of the ordinary for even the normal robbery, if you will," said Bennett. "But again, there's nothing at this particular point to lead us to believe that what the victim is telling us is not true."

Both suspects are white males -- one is 5-foot-10 and 180 to 200 pounds, and wearing a blue, puffy coat. The other is 5-feet-7 or 5-foot-8 and about 150 pounds.

Detectives aren't saying how much money was taken. They are asking anyone with information to call the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department tip line at 1.888.731.1001 ext. 4687 or Silent Observer at 1.877.88.SILENT (745368) or online at www.mosotips.com.