“Enrique Perez Mendez: Robbery Suspect Shot by Off-Duty Officer at Meijer Parking Lot”

Accident – Death – Obituary News : Kettering Police Respond to Robbery Incident at Meijer Store

Kettering police were promptly dispatched to Meijer, located at 4075 Wilmington Pike, on October 8th around 2 p.m. following a report of a robbery. The store manager alerted the authorities, stating that a customer had been robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot.

According to police reports, the victim recounted that the robber forced him to withdraw cash from the ATM inside the store. Disturbingly, the assailant awaited the victim’s return inside a blue pickup truck parked nearby. Seeking assistance, the victim approached Meijer employees, who then contacted the police.

Responding officers quickly arrived at the Meijer premises, where they spotted the suspect described as wearing jeans and a ballcap. Moments later, one officer sighted the suspect on Tangent Drive, which lies in the neighborhood situated behind the Meijer store, leading toward East David Road.

An off-duty officer managed to locate the suspect, subsequently identified as 24-year-old Enrique Perez Mendez from Harrison Township. The woman residing at a house on the 4400 block of Tangent Drive promptly notified the emergency services, revealing that the suspect had intruded into her backyard.

A distressing turn of events unfolded as the Perez Mendez aimed a firearm at the off-duty officer, who instinctively discharged their weapon in self-defense. The woman present at the scene swiftly contacted the police, reporting the exchange of gunfire between the suspect and the officer.

The situation escalated further as an officer radioed a “shots fired” alert after hearing three gunshots. Despite being wounded, Perez Mendez retained access to his firearm and attempted to rise to his knees, refusing to comply with the commands of the responding officers.

Reports indicate that law enforcement officers, keeping their weapons trained on Perez Mendez, successfully secured his gun. The suspect, visibly in pain and clutching his right side where he had been shot, received immediate first aid from the officers at the scene.

Shortly after, medical personnel arrived to attend to Perez Mendez’s injuries, which were described as serious but not life-threatening. Following this incident, Perez Mendez faces multiple charges, including two counts of aggravated robbery, one count of kidnapping, one count of improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, and one misdemeanor count of criminal damaging.

Investigators have connected this incident in Kettering to an earlier robbery that occurred approximately 30 minutes prior at La Tapatia, a Mexican grocery store situated at 4941 Burkhardt Road in Riverside. According to an affidavit filed in Kettering Municipal Court, Perez Mendez, armed with a gun, robbed the store and even fired a shot while behind the sales counter.

In a desperate bid to evade capture, Perez Mendez approached an unsuspecting individual and demanded their money and cellphone. He then coerced the individual to drive him to Meijer in the victim’s pickup truck, where he ordered the victim to withdraw all the funds from their bank account using the ATM inside the store, as detailed in the court document.

Perez Mendez is scheduled to appear in court on January 17th for a scheduling conference, with a trial date yet to be determined. As the investigation continues, authorities are working diligently to bring this dangerous criminal to justice.

[Image: A photograph of Enrique Perez Mendez, courtesy of Montgomery County Jail].