Bend transient jailed in adult store robbery

A 30-year-old Bend transient who began his Saturday by telling a worker at an adult video store he wanted to go back to jail ended it right where he apparently wanted to be – behind bars, facing robbery, car theft and other charges, police said.

After spending over an hour at Imagine That, an adult store and “head shop” at 197 SE Third Street, Lucas Ray Evans left the store momentarily, said police Lt. Brian Kindel.

An employee watched him through the glass door, crouching and holding an object just before he re-entered the store, Kindel said.

Once inside again, the employee said Evans told him he wanted to go back to jail and that he was going to rob the store. Kindel said Evans used a “cylinder-type object” to point at employees while he demanded money.

The workers believed Evans was joking, Kindel said, and demanded he leave – but Evans refused, then grabbed an envelope containing miscellaneous cash from the counter and tried to run away.

But customers visiting the store heard an employee yell “No!” and tackled Evans, Kindel said. The money was returned to the store – and as a result, the store didn’t report the crime.

Less than nine hours later, around 9:41 a.m., Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies detained Evans in an unrelated investigation and informed Bend police, who then learned of the holdup earlier in the morning and began their investigation.

Evans was lodged in the Deschutes County Jail on second-degree robbery, theft and criminal trespass charges, as well as unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Bail totaled $16,500 pending a scheduled Monday court appearance.

In March of 2012, two prowler reports in a northeast Bend neighborhood within just over an hour prompted a search with a police dog and arrest of Evans, then of La Pine, found hiding under a backyard RV, police said at the time. He was arrested on three counts of second-degree criminal trespass and a parole violation charge.