Homer Police last week charged a third person in the Dec. 17 armed robbery of the Grog Shop. James Mumey, 49, was arrested for first-degree robbery and is now at Wildwood Pretrial Facility, Kenai. Police said that Mumey provided the silver handgun that his older brother, John Mumey, 50, is alleged to have used in robbing the Pioneer Avenue liquor store.
John Mumey and Terry Lashley-Elliot, 32, also have been charged with first-degree robbery. Police allege that Lashley-Elliot drove John Mumey to the Heritage Hotel several blocks west of the Grog Shop and later picked him up after the robbery. James Mumey was staying at the Heritage Hotel on Dec. 17 and was arrested on Dec. 18 for fourth-degree assault. Coincidentally, he was arraigned on Dec. 19 at the same time as his older brother.
In a criminal complaint and affidavit filed Jan. 21, Homer Police Sgt. Lary Kuhns wrote that a confidential informant said that on the night of the robbery John Mumey and Lashley-Elliot met James Mumey at the Heritage Hotel and that James gave John a handgun. The informant had earlier given police information about the Grog Shop robbery that led to the arrest of John Mumey and Lashley-Elliot.
The informant said before the robbery John Mumey had tried to pawn a .22-caliber silver Jennings brand semi-automatic pistol. Police interviewed the pawn shop owner, who said he refused to take the handgun because he felt it was a “Saturday Night special,” a cheap, poor quality handgun. Police later recovered the gun after serving a search warrant at a local home.
Police also said the informant got a brown leather coat alleged to belong to James Mumey. Police got the coat and found four .22-caliber bullets in a pocket.
The Grog Shop was robbed about 10:30 p.m. Dec. 17 when a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and dark sunglasses pointed a silver semi-automatic handgun at the clerk. The robber took the cash register drawer and a 12-pack of Alaska White beer and then fled out the back door and south side of the building.
A preliminary hearing for John Mumey and Lashley-Elliot was continued to Friday. James Mumey was arraigned on Jan. 23. A preliminary hearing for him has been set for Feb. 12.
