A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a third man identified in the Monday robbery of the Hinckley Holiday gas station.
Security camera footage showed Nicholas Thorson fleeing from the Holiday to a liquor store parking lot. Footage then shows Thorson getting into an early 2000s maroon Chevrolet Tahoe registered to 24-year-old Michael Alan Hanson.
The vehicle was seen entering the parking lot of the Grand Northern Inn minutes after the robbery. An individual wearing clothing similar to the robbery suspect was seen exiting the Tahoe and entering the hotel.
On November 13, authorities executed a search warrant for the room. They found Thorson, black clothing, and a black Daisy Powerline 426 pistol-style BB gun inside the hotel room.
In his statement to Sheriff's Deputies, Thorson admitted was the person who robbed the gas station. He also identified Michael Hanson as the driver of the Chevrolet Tahoe. Thorson went to say that he robbed the Holiday so Byron Sternaman could pay back $300 dollars he stole from his second job at America’s Best Value Inn.
Sternaman was working at the gas station when Thorson robbed it. In his statement to Deputies, Sternaman claimed that did not see the robbery take place, but security camera footage shows him standing behind the register and looking in the direction of the robbery as it was happening.
Thorson told deputies that Sternaman was fully aware of when the robbery was going to happen. He even texted Sternaman to get ready the day the incident took place.
Nicholas Thorson is charged with one count of Felony Aggravated Robbery which holds a maximum sentence of 20 years and/or $35,000 fine.
Byron Sternaman is charged with one count of Aggravated Robbery which holds a maximum sentence of 20 years and/or a $35,000 fine, one count of Aiding an Offender to Avoid Arrest which holds maximum sentence of 3 years and/or a $5000 fine and one count to Aid Offender which holds maximum sentence of 10 years and/or a $17,500 fine. All three of those counts are felonies.
Michael Alan Hanson is charged with one count to Aid and Abet Aggravated Robbery which is a felony and carries a maximum sentence of 20 years and/or a $35,000 fine.
Hanson's whereabouts are unknown at this time.
