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Suspects who smashed car window during robbery in Provo told police they needed gas money

Posted at 8:15 PM, Dec 10, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-10 22:15:24-05

PROVO, Utah — Two men are behind bars Sunday after police in Provo say one of the suspects used a BB gun pistol to smash a car window during an aggravated robbery.

According to statements of probable cause, Damon Lane and Dustin Walter were with a woman in a vehicle in the Provo area after becoming lost.

The group was trying to get money to buy gas to make it back to their respective home states, and as they were driving around and looking for the freeway they passed through a neighborhood and saw a parked car with people inside of it.

Lane told police he got out of the car and Walter handed him a black BB gun pistol that resembled a real firearm. Lane approached the other car and asked for directions, and then he used the butt end of the BB gun to smash the window. He then robbed the occupants at gunpoint and fled back to Walter and their vehicle.

One of the victims suffered cuts to the face from the shattered window.

As the group drove out of the neighborhood, Lane threw the car keys he had just stolen from the victims out the window and told Walter they could split the money they had taken to buy gas.

Police encountered the suspects as they were driving to the highway and initiated a traffic stop. Police say Lane told Walter and the woman he would flee “to take the heat off the other two so they could get away.”

Lane fled west on foot, and after officers arrested the pair in the vehicle they used a K9 to locate Lane. Officers from BYU Police and Utah County Sheriff’s Office assisted with that search.

Police say Lane, “expressed his remorse for hurting the passenger and indicated he did not want to hurt anyone, he just wanted to get money to get off the street.”

Lane is wanted out of Alabama for a burglary charge. He was booked into the Utah County jail on charges of theft, criminal mischief, failure to stop at the command of police, and aggravated robbery with  the use or threat of a weapon.

Walter, who is from Spokane, Washington, was booked into jail on one count of aggravated robbery.

Police said the woman who was in the car with the pair is not believed to have been involved in the robbery, so she was not booked into jail.