U.P. man facing kidnapping and armed robbery charges

SAULT STE. MARIE — A man is facing several felony charges after he robbed a local gas station at gun point and kidnapped the clerk.

Officers from Sault Ste. Marie Police Department say a male subject pulled into the Admiral Gas Station on West Portage Avenue and Easterday Avenue to fill up his Jeep around 2:40 a.m. When he went inside to pay, he locked the door behind him and pointed a gun at the clerk, demanding money. The clerk turned over $900 in cash before the subject forced her out of the gas station and kidnapped her.

The suspect traveled southbound on I-75 and released the clerk at a turnaround near Kinross. The clerk ran to a nearby B.P. and woke-up a semi-driver, who then called 9-1-1. Officials interviewed the clerk and released her to her parents. In the meantime, the subject turned around and headed north on I-75, crossing the international bridge into Canada.

Police obtained security footage from the Admiral and the suspect was identified as a past employee of the gas station. Sault Ste. Marie Police Department in Ontario apprehended the suspect, who turned himself in. He is currently being lodged at the jail in Ontario, awaiting a deportation hearing. He will be banned from entering Canada.

Once he has had his hearing, he will be released to American officials and arraigned at the 91st District Court in Sault Ste. Marie.