Officers first arrived at the Dollar General store at 1640 W. Thatcher Street around 8:13 p.m., according to the Safford Police report. About the armed robbery in Safford. The Graham County Dispatch Service alerted the suspect to his appearance and advised that he had fled the area in a gold Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.

Several customers who were on their way into the store as the suspected robbery escaped saw the commotion and decided to follow Moran on the run in a Chevrolet. Police were later called by a customer to say they had spotted the truck near the top of Jenson Hill in the area of ​​Route 191 and Discovery Park Boulevard.

Officers complied and got behind the Silverado, which was traveling west on Discovery Park Boulevard. The pursuit sometimes exceeded 90 mph as it wound up Safford City Road and entered Highway 70. An attempt to spike strip a truck on 20th Street failed because Moran ignored stop signs and red lights. Moran then took Eighth Avenue, looped through Safford, returned to Relation Street, and headed east on the opposite lane of Solomon Road.

Moran then hit Bowie Street, returned to Highway 70, and headed west toward Safford.

Driving into the city at 90 mph, he continued to run red lights during police pursuit and endangered other traffic by driving recklessly, including attempting to crash into a police vehicle.

The chase entered Thatcher and headed south down Lee Lane and then east on Golf Course Road back into the county. After the Silverado stopped near 2300 blocks on Golf Course Road for two tires punctured by a spike strip, police officers successfully spike stripped the Chevrolet and took Moran into custody during the dangerous stop. Officer Thatcher and a deputy from the Graham County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the pursuit of Officer Safford.

A Dollar General employee told police that he was near a self-checkout when he heard customers enter the store and saw a masked man with a gun. She said the man demanded cash and threatened to shoot him if the cashier didn’t hand over the money for the store. At the time, the cashier is said to have told Moran he could not enter the store’s safe. Moran told the cashier to hire another employee, but instead the cashier started throwing Moran out of the store empty-handed.

The incident was recorded on the store’s surveillance system, which showed a man (later identified as Moran) wearing sunglasses, a red face covering, and a black hoodie entering the store with a gun. Cameras showed the suspect walking to the cash register and then walking out of the store with an employee behind him.

After a police chase, Moran was arrested and taken to the Graham County Adult Detention Facility. He allegedly admitted during interrogation that he tried to rob a store “to save money for clothes and a car.” The suspect brandished a gun and demanded money, but he said he left when the clerk told him to leave. He also claimed that the weapon he used was a “found” BB gun, not a real gun. No gun was found, and Moran advised only that he “must have dropped the gun” when he got into the truck at the store. He later said he did not remember when asked if he threw the gun away during the chase.

No weapon was found, but officers recovered from the truck a handmade red cloth mask, sunglasses, gloves and a black hoodie, all of which matched what the suspect was wearing in the surveillance video.

On Monday, he was formally charged with armed robbery with a lethal weapon, two counts of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon or device, and illegally fleeing a law enforcement pursuit. His bond was set at $500,000.