Woman charged in pet store robbery used fake gun

By Dave Clark

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008 | 10:57 a.m.

A robbery of a Henderson PetSmart July 13 that ended in a police standoff and a hostage being held at gunpoint was done with a fake gun.

The revelation was made last week during a preliminary hearing for Mandy Hagen, who faces several felony charges in connection with the incident. The case will resume Thursday.

She is charged with robbery with a deadly weapon, five counts of kidnapping, resisting an officer with a deadly weapon, failing to stop, assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of abuse or neglect of a child.

Last Thursday, Deputy Public Defender David Westbrook argued before Henderson Justice of the Peace Rodney Burr that the deadly weapons portions of the charges should be dropped before the case goes to District Court. Westbrook also contended that Hagen’s actions in PetSmart did not rise to the level of kidnapping.

His arguments were continued to 9:30 a.m. this Thursday, when prosecutors will have a chance to respond.

The admission that the weapon was not a real firearm came during the testimony of Metro Officer Marc Geiger, who described negotiations with Hagen to drop her weapon while at a Rebel gas station near Vegas Valley Drive and Nellis Boulevard.

Under questioning from Westbrook, Geiger said he thought at the time the gun was real but understood now that it was not.

“A fake gun is not a firearm,” Westbrook said.

Deputy District Attorney Andrea Rachiele said she could not yet release any more details on the type of gun it was until next week.

In addition, Westbrook argued the kidnapping charges were not warranted. Employees testified that the incident lasted between five and 10 minutes, and the employee movement was restricted to the bare essentials required to commit the robbery, he said.

“The Legislature never intended for there to be a kidnapping with every robbery,” he said. “There’s always some movement that’s necessary. Is it over and above what’s necessary?”

He added that the first-degree kidnapping charge leveled against Hagen for holding a woman hostage at a gas station should be reduced to second-degree. He said first-degree is restricted for the purpose of murder or robbery. Murder, he argued, was impossible because of the phony gun.

Following the hearing, Deputy District Attorney Kristen Lynch said she could not comment on the arguments until the next hearing. However, she praised police for exercising what she viewed as restraint.

“Because of the good reaction of the Henderson Police Department, nobody ended up dead, including the defendant and hostage,” she said.

Several PetSmart employees testified about the circumstances surrounding the robbery, using words like “surreal” to describe it.

They said the robber’s manner was non-chalant, and found it odd the person used an affected British accent, including words like “love” to address them.

“It seemed very cliché,” employee Kari Fossum said.

Fossum also testified the robber was obviously wearing a disguise, including a long black wig with red streaks.

Fossum said she was having a cigarette break outside with a co-worker when a woman approached them asking if the store was open.

“She stated, ‘I’m sorry to cut your break short. Go inside. I’m robbing the place,’” Fossum said. “I asked her, ‘Are you kidding?’”

She then showed them a gun tucked into her waistband, Fossum alleged. Fossum said the woman asked them to take her to the safe, prompting Fossum to call manager Jasmine Holland.

Holland testified that she initially had trouble locating her keys, which flustered the robber.

The woman “put a gun against my stomach and said, ‘Don’t make me get antsy,’” Holland said.

Employee Christine Elliott described feeling scared at that moment after first wondering if the situation was some sort of joke. She also testified that she harbored suspicions the gun might be fake, but did not wish to test her theory.

Kayla Pitts was working in an aisle when she said she was ordered toward the vault.

“She said, ‘Come on, love,’” Pitts said. “I laughed and took a drink of my drink.”

But she later learned it was serious.

After the robber was given roughly $2,000, employees said, she left the store, and employees contacted police.

Henderson Officer Benjamin Conner testified that he located a car that matched the description store employees gave and followed it on a high-speed chase east on Tropicana Avenue after it exited off Interstate 515.

Sharon Persinger was at the Rebel Gas Station when she noticed several police cars heading south on Nellis Boulevard. She saw a white car came flying into the station, she said.

“The police officer told me to get out of there,” Persinger said, noting she was still recovering from hip replacement surgery four months ago. “There was no way I could move fast enough.”

Persinger testified that she was grabbed around her neck by a woman who pointed the gun at her neck.

The woman “told police to back off or she would kill me,” Persinger said.

She also testified that the woman told her to get into her truck, but she ignored the commands, fearing she would die if she obeyed.

“I wondered how bad it would hurt to get shot,” Persinger said. “Would I lay there and bleed to death or die immediately?”

Geiger said he eventually convinced the woman to drop her gun. When she did so, he punched her and placed her in a headlock.

He also testified that if he had a clear shot at the woman, he would have taken it.

After Hagen was arrested and booked, she told authorities her two children were by themselves. Police said they found Hagen’s 3- and 6-year-old children at her home.

Dave Clark is a reporter for the Home News. He can be reached at 990-2677 or [email protected].