Scooter helps police nab suspect in east Medford Dutch Bros robbery

Published 11:30 pm Thursday, August 22, 2024

A 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of robbery after an electric-scooter-riding thief brandished a weapon at a Medford coffee stand worker and demanded money.

It was the scooter that led police to the suspect.

Raymond William Mathes Jr., 34, was arrested Wednesday evening on suspicion of second-degree robbery, unlawful use of a weapon and menacing, stemming from a Tuesday night robbery at the Dutch Bros coffee stand at 2832 Crater Lake Highway, according to a news release issued Thursday by Medford Police.

A Dutch Bros employee reported to police at 8:50 p.m. Tuesday that a masked suspect arrived at the stand near the Whittle Avenue intersection, displayed a handgun and demanded money.

The worker closed the window, dropped to the floor and called police, and the thief fled on the scooter, according to the release.

Police stopped Mathes the next day riding a scooter that matched the one captured on the coffee stand’s video surveillance.

Mathes ran before police tackled him and took him into custody after a brief struggle, according to the release. At the time of his arrest, police found him to be in possession of an air rifle and an air pistol, the release said.

Court records show that Mathes has a prior second-degree robbery conviction stemming from a May 2018 robbery. The following August, he was sentenced to five years, 10 months in the custody of the Oregon Department of Corrections, the mandatory minimum sentence for the crime under Oregon’s Measure 11 law.

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