Arrests follow an attempt to rob gem shop

By FINN J. JOHN
Gazette-Times reporter

Two accused would-be robbers were arrested minutes after they left their intended target's store Wednesday.

Noe Angel Morales, 25, of Salem, and Saul P. Palacios, 36, of Keizer, were both arrested following the incident and face charges of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. Palacios also faces charges of menacing, unauthorized use of a weapon and pointing a firearm at another person.

The attempted robbery happened at 11:05 a.m., when the two men walked into Michael's Jewelry on Third Street. The owner, Michael Chambers, was just opening up shop, according to Capt. Bob Deutsch of the Corvallis Police Department.

"He was still putting stuff in the cases," said Deutsch. "He noticed they both looked very suspicious, and one seemed to have a lump in his pocket that appeared to be a gun."

Police said Chambers, to be on the safe side, retreated to another part of the store and readied a weapon, just in case. Two other people were in the store with him.

Palacios and Morales reportedly came around the counter — Palacios with gun in hand — but when they saw all the employees waiting for them, the two men apparently decided to run for it. Chambers last saw them running at full speed toward the Willamette River.

Their timing couldn't have been worse.

"By an unlucky stroke, for the suspects in this, there were a lot of police officers in the area," Deutsch said. "By the time they hit the door, they were already on the scene — there were a couple sheriff's deputies having lunch nearby. The area was already unintentionally saturated with cops."

Moments later, sheriff's deputies and Corvallis police officers located Palacios climbing on the bank of the Willamette River near First Street and Washington Avenue, and arrested him without incident.

Morales was caught after Corvallis police detective Cord Wood saw his head pop up out of the Willamette River. Apparently, he'd hopped in to try to swim past the officers searching for him on the bank.

Morales, soaking wet in the chilly air, was loaded into the Benton County Sheriff's Office marine patrol boat near First Street and Jefferson Avenue.

Police are still looking for the gun Palacio is accused of using.

"Officers and deputies and Benton County Marine Patrol deputies searched the bank near the scene and recovered a loaded gun," said Deutsch. "But (the gun used in the robbery) was not the gun that was found. So we figure there are probably two guns involved, and the one they're looking for is probably in the river."

Detective Chris Gore of the Benton County Sheriff's Office said the gun found along the bank was a nickel-plated Taurus .38 Special revolver; Deutsch said it had been reported stolen. Police declined to describe the missing gun, other than to say it was a different type.

Police suspect a third person was waiting with a getaway car, but may have been spooked and drove away when he or she saw the two men running out of the store.

Chambers said he was extremely impressed by the nearly instant arrival of officers at his store, and he was enthusiastic in his praise of Benton County's police agencies.

"The police department responded incredibly quickly, unbelievably quickly," he said. "We have a home-run police department. You would not believe the response. I mean, they nailed 'em. … They literally penned off the area and apprehended both of them."

Finn J. John is a reporter for the Gazette-Times. He can be reached at 758-9530 or finn.john@lee.net.