A 38-year-old Alpena man is in custody after police say he used a rifle to hold up a victim at a Fayetteville car wash, stealing the man’s wallet and cellphone and driving off in his Chevy Tahoe.
Erik Olson was booked into the Washington County Detention Center at 2:12 a.m. Thursday (Nov. 15) and faces at least seven charges, including aggravated robbery and driving while intoxicated.
Olson held a rifle barrel to the back of the victim’s head at Suds Car Wash, 1541 Martin Luther King Blvd., at about 5:34 p.m. on Wednesday, according to a preliminary arrest report from the Fourth Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Olson took the man’s wallet and threatened to kill his family before driving off in his black Chevy Tahoe, the report states. The car wash hose became tangled in the vehicle axle and was torn from the wash bay, damaging the car wash, according to the report.
Officers spotted Olson driving recklessly on Interstate 540 and saw him exiting and re-entering the congested freeway at Johnson, the report states.
He was arrested after merging back onto I-540.
Police reported smelling “the strong odor of intoxicants” on Olson, who later conceded he had consumed “a large amount of alcohol,” according to the report.
Police recovered the victim’s wallet and cellphone from Olson’s pockets and found the rifle in the Tahoe, the report states.
