SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN TWENTYNINE PALMS ARMED ROBBERIES

Sheriff’s investigators have arrested two Marines in connection with three armed robberies in Twentynine Palms since Sunday. On Sunday about 9:30 p.m., the Motel 6 was robbed by one suspect wearing a mask over his face, who displayed a handgun, demanded money, and then fled on foot to a car where he met a driver in a get-away car. Then on Monday, about 9:30 p.m., a man called the Sheriff’s Department to report that he was just held up by a man as he was walking near Aztec Avenue and Sunnyvale. Shortly after that call, an armed robbery was reported at the Circle K convenience store at Two Mile Road and Adobe Road in Twentynine Palms. Investigators say a man wearing a mask displayed a handgun and demanded cash from the clerk. There were several witnesses inside the store at the time of the robbery, but they were not injured. The robber then fled on foot. On Tuesday, investigators developed leads that led them to an apartment in the 73900 block of Two Mile Road. Additional information was developed that resulted in search warrants being sought for the apartment and a barracks room aboard the Twentynine Palms Marine Corps Base. Evidence implicated both Dustin Smiley, 19, and Randall Myrick, also 19, as suspects in the robberies. Both Smiley and Myrick, who are privates first class with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, were detained aboard the Marine Base and later interviewed. Dustin Smiley was arrested and booked for all three armed robberies. Randall Myrick was arrested and booked for his role in the Motel 6 robbery. Both suspects are being held at the Morongo Basin Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.