Zachary Taylor Cortez and Luke John Mizenko have been charged in connection with Monday’s armed robbery of a convenience store in Great Falls.
The robbery happened at about 3:30 p.m. at the Sinclair store at 620 57th Street South. Nobody was injured.
Court documents state that a man – later identified as Mizenko – pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money. 
Bill Raaen, the store clerk, told KRTV that he pulled the cash register drawer out and placed it on the counter; Mizenko then put the gun on the counter and grabbed some of the cash. He then began to leave, but before he got to the door, he realized that he had left the gun on the counter, and turned around to pick it up. He then left the store and got into a green Jeep Liberty that was driven by Cortez.
The two drove away, and a witness provided responding police officers with a description of the Jeep and the license plate number.
Officers looked up the license plate and saw that the Jeep was registered to Cortez. Police went to Cortez’s house in a neighborhood along Central Avenue and 33rd Street.
Court documents state that Mizenko came to the front door with a gun pointed at his chest, and he claimed to be innocent. He then held police at bay for 18 minutes before surrendering.
After obtaining a search warrant, Cortez was also taken into custody.
According to the charging documents, Cortez was on conditional release for a conviction of criminal possession of dangerous drugs, and earlier in the day had reported to his Probation & Parole Officer and tested positive for meth. Police also found a "large sum of money" under his bed.
Mizenko reportedly admitted to the robbery, and that he used a gun; he also said that Cortez had driven the Jeep and provided him with the gun.
Mizenko, 22 years old, has been charged with robbery and assault with a weapon, both felonies, and misdemeanor obstructing a peace officer. Prosecutors requested that bond for Mizenko be set at $25,000.
Cortez, 20 years old, has been charged with robbery (conspiracy) and assault with a weapon (conspiracy), both felonies. There is no reference to a bond amount in the court documents for Cortez.
The Sinclair store posted the following message on Facebook on Monday afternoon:
Well today was kind of a rough day here. Thank you to all of our amazing friends and customers stopping by and checking on us. About 3:30 a strung out punk robbed the store. Pointed a gun at Bill and emptied the cash drawer. He was one of the dumbest criminals though…..he left his gun on the counter but came back to grab it. One of our regulars (our hero) chased the car down and the guy obeyed traffic signs (stopped at a stop sign) and she was able to get his license plate number. Now that the crime tape is down we are open for business. Thank you everyone for thinking about us and checking on us.
Raaen, the store clerk, said he’s okay and was back to work Tuesday. He said, “I’m glad that nobody was hurt and it’s over and reached a quick conclusion for everybody.”
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