Kolka's Corner Store robbery

An armed robbery took place just before 4:30 p.m. at Kolka's Corner Store, 1200 S. Wenona Ave., Tuesday, Feb. 7, police allege.

(Tori Schneider | MLive.com)

Justin J. Vantol

BAY CITY, MI -- Donning a ski mask and brandishing a large knife, a Bay City man allegedly entered a party store intending to steal enough cash to fund his heroin habit.

Moments after making off with more than $500 in cash, his success came to an end when a vigilant civilian corralled him, broke his shoulder blade with a hockey stick, and pinned him down until police arrived.

Just before 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7, police responded to a robbery complaint at Kolka's Corner Store, 1200 S. Wenona Ave. A 68-year-old female clerk told responding officers she was alone in the store when a masked man entered, put a knife in her face, and told her to open the register, court records show.

The woman complied and gave the man all the cash in the till. The robber then fled on foot, she told police.

Officers searched the area and found two men -- Donta L. Lee and Mark W. Carelli -- holding the suspect to the ground behind a garage in the 400 block of West Ionia Street. Police cuffed and arrested the suspect, whom they identified as 26-year-old Justin J. Vantol.

Police located a blue ski mask about 5 feet from where Vantol had been. They also found a knife in his coat pocket, court records show.

Carelli told police he was entering the store as Vantol ran past him. When the clerk told him she had been robbed, Carelli chased after Vantol. He saw Lee standing nearby and yelled for him to stop Vantol, he told police.

Lee said he was outside his residence when Carelli yelled to him. He said he grabbed Vantol by the arm, but released him when Vantol yelled at him and displayed his knife, court records show.

Lee said he then retrieved a wooden hockey stick from his garage and pursued Vantol, eventually cornering him behind the Ionia Street garage. Lee hit Vantol on the left shoulder with the stick, took a wad of cash from his pocket, and held him until police arrived.

Lee then handed over $674 in cash to police, court records show.

Vantol was taken to McLaren Bay Region hospital, where he was treated for a fractured left scapula.

"Justin explained that he was simply being stupid," police wrote in their reports, contained in court files. "Justin stated that he was going through withdrawals from his heroin addiction."

Vantol added he uses heroin daily and needed money, adding the idea to rob the store had been in the back of his mind, court records show.

Bay County District Judge Timothy J. Kelly on Wednesday, Feb. 8, arraigned Vantol on single counts of armed robbery, carrying a weapon with unlawful intent, and carrying a concealed weapon. The first charge is a life offense, while the latter two are both five-year felonies.

Kelly set Vantol's bond at $500,000 cash-surety and ordered him to appear for a preliminary examination at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23.