Two arrested in violent robbery

TAYLORSVILLE — Two men wanted in connection with a violent robbery in Taylorsville have been arrested in Grantsville. And investigators believe the men may be linked to other violent crimes in the valley in which victims were picked at random.

Just after noon Saturday, two men entered the garage of a 61-year-old man at the Meadowbrook condominiums, near 4300 South and 1100 West, said Taylorsville police detective Shannon Bennett. The men attempted to rob the victim at gunpoint, but he fought back.

Although he suffered serious cuts on his head, mouth and face, the robbers left emptyhanded, he said.

The gunmen fled after the victim fought them off. Bennett said "other circumstances" occurred that "interrupted" the robbery, but he would not go into details.

An observant neighbor was able to get the license plate number of the getaway vehicle, which led to the arrests of two men in Grantsville.

Robert Collins, 19, and Leo Collins, 24, were booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery. Monday, investigators were looking at whether both men could be linked to at least two other incidents:

Friday, a woman was robbed at gunpoint at the Monte Vista Trailer Park, near 4600 South 800 West, just after visiting an ATM. The suspect descriptions and their getaway vehicle matched Saturday's incident, Bennett said. Investigators believe in Saturday's incident, the men followed the woman for quite a while before robbing her.

About an hour after that robbery, two men pulled up alongside a man walking near 3450 South and 200 East, forced him to lie on the sidewalk at gunpoint and robbed him of his cell phone, wallet and keys, said South Salt Lake Police detective Gary Keller.

Bennett, speaking about the two Taylorsville cases, said the victims all seemed to have been chosen at random initially and then watched to see if they would make good targets.

"They were out casing the area, looking for vulnerable people," he said.

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