◊ Suspects already in jail in connection with China House armed robbery
By Marguerite Alexander
Correspondent, The Sun

An investigation into the armed robbery at the China House bar in McMinnville led Yamhill County sheriff deputies to three suspects wanted in the cash register heist at the Wildwood in McMinnville.   

Kevin R. Contreras, 50, Angela Jo Crawford, 30, and James Allen Crawford, 30, were arrested at the Yamhill County Jail and charged with second-degree theft and second-degree criminal mischief.

The two incidents occurred three days apart. At approximately 1:30 a.m. on April 4 three people, who had ordered a beer to share at the Wildwood in Willamina, grabbed the cash register and ran out the door. Security cameras at Center Market captured photos of the car and the three suspects.

That same week two males displaying what appeared to be a firearm, robbed the China House Restaurant and bar in McMinnville. In the early morning hours of April 7 a man pointed a gun at the bartender’s head and demanded money while the other man approached two female patrons and demanded cash—unsuccessfully. As they were leaving, the man with the gun reportedly stuck one of the female patrons with the firearm. The two men left the restaurant with an undisclosed amount of money.

The suspects then fled the scene in a Honda Accord. When their car was stopped by an Oregon State Police trooper on Hwy 99W near the Bayou Golf Course, one of the passengers fled, escaping onto the golf course. That suspect, James Crawford, was later identified as the man carrying the gun at the China House Robbery. He was arrested that same morning at the Portland International Airport as he attempted to catch a flight out of the state.

During the search for James Crawford of Sheridan, law enforcement officers discovered the vehicle used in the Wildwood theft. That led them right back to three suspects in custody for the armed robbery in McMinnville.

James Crawford and Kevin Contreras face multiple charges in connection with the China House robbery including numerous Measure 11 offences which carry mandatory minimum sentences. Angela Crawford and a fourth person, Jason W. Crawford, were also implicated in the robbery.

James Crawford also faces charges of identity theft and theft of lost property in Multnomah County as the result of allegedly possessing and using false identification at a security point at the Portland Airport.

This is the third arrest for Contreras this year. Last month he was sentenced to 30 days in jail and 18 months probation after pleading guilty to second-degree criminal mischief following a Jan. 2 break-in at Togstad Storage on West Main Street in Sheridan.