A preliminary hearing was held and continued last Friday for Dellan Vanbuskirk, 28, charged with an armed robbery of the Short Stop Tesoro Gas Station. Seward Magistrate George Peck, filling in for Judge Margaret Murphy, continued the hearing for Vanbuskirk to 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Homer Courthouse.

Vanbuskirk is being held without bail at Wildwood Pretrial Facility in Kenai and attended the hearing telephonically. 

In January, Homer Police charged Vanbuskirk with two counts of first-degree armed robbery. Police said Vanbuskirk was the masked man who on Jan. 6 held up the Short Stop Tesoro Gas Station on Baycrest Hill, taking cash and cigarettes. Police said Vanbuskirk also robbed a friend on Jan. 16 in Anchor Point. Police named Vanbuskirk as the suspect in a Dec. 28 armed robbery of the Fat Olives Espresso, but he has not been charged with that robbery.

Vanbuskirk also faces charges of resisting arrest and  disorderly conduct from his arrest on Jan. 22 and a charge of third-degree escape while being taken to Wildwood. 

In an earlier hearing on Feb. 8, Vanbuskirk claimed he was not guilty, but he has not made a formal plea. 

In the hearing on March 4, Vanbuskirk’s lawyer, Joy Hobart, said the state had submitted a proposed plea agreement, but she had not yet discussed it with her client and needed time to review it with him.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.