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DNA evidence may aid robbery probe By SARAH LEMON Suspects in a robbery and attempted robbery at two Medford stores in the past week left something behind for police - possible DNA evidence. Early Tuesday, a woman wearing a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt tried to take some cash from a Quick Shop Market but got spooked by a customer. The suspect entered the 3320 N. Pacific Highway market around 4:10 a.m. and tried to force open the cash register, according to police reports. When a store clerk approached the suspect at the counter, she said she had a handgun and demanded the register's contents. But a customer entered the store, and the Mickey Mouse-sporting suspect fled without taking anything, said Medford police Lt. Mike Moran. She then apparently shed the maroon sweatshirt outside. Police sent the garment to a crime lab to look for DNA evidence, such as hairs, that could later be used for comparison, Moran said. After leaving the store, the suspect was seen hailing a white compact sedan on Connell Avenue about a block from the market, police said. Although threatened, the store employee never saw a gun, police said. The white female suspect was described as 23 to 27 years old, standing 5-foot-5 and 145 pounds. She has light-colored hair, possibly dark or reddish blond and was wearing bluish-green eye makeup. She was wearing beige pants. Police also recovered a personal item left behind at another Medford robbery last week. A female suspect who robbed Magic Man on Aug. 20 apparently left behind a pair of black sandals when she kicked them off and dove into the bed of a slow-moving pickup, Moran said. The shoes were also sent to a crime lab for evaluation. Police said they are following a few leads in this case but are still seeking the suspect who allegedly stole cash, electronic scales, stun guns and bumper stickers from the Bear Creek Plaza store. The suspect, in her early 20s, was described as attractive by an eyewitness, stands 5-foot-8 and is of average build. She has shoulder-length blond or light-brown hair. She was last seen wearing a white down-quilted winter coat and was running toward the south end of the shopping center where she jumped into the bed of white pickup with a white canopy. Anyone with information about these robberies should contact Medford police detective Mike Blair at 541-774-2242. Although they have identified their man, Grants Pass police are still looking for the suspect in an Aug. 20 armed robbery. Joshua Kayne Mellow, 16, allegedly took a bank bag of cash and checks from a Service Drug Store employee at Bank of America, 735 S.E. Sixth St., Grants Pass, police said. The victim said Mellow approached him as he was entering the bank, brandished a knife and demanded the bag of business receipts. Mellow is described as 5-foot-6, 155 pounds and having blond hair and hazel eyes. He has a tattoo of a cross on the right side of his chest. At the time of the robbery, he was shirtless and wearing tan shorts, according to police reports. Grants Pass Department of Public Safety asks anyone with information about Mellow's whereabouts or involvement in the crime to contact the department's detective division at 541-474-6370. Reach reporter Sarah Lemon at 776-4487, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.