DECATUR - Two 20-year-old Decatur men are jailed under $75,000 bond each for investigation of armed robbery after they allegedly used handguns to threaten two 18-year-old men late Thursday and get their victims to give them money.

The pair appeared Friday before Associate Judge James Coryell, who scheduled another appearance for them Nov. 6 to hear any formal charges on file. They were held Friday on preliminary charges of armed robbery and aggravated unlawful use of weapons. Both men are convicted felons.

Decatur police Sgt. Steve Chabak said officers were detailed to the 2100 block of East Prairie Avenue at 11:58 p.m. Thursday on reports of five or six shots fired. He said that while officers were en route, they were informed the victim was at the Huck's Convenience Store, 202 N. 22nd St.

They located an 18-year-old Decatur man, who stated he had been robbed, and later found his buddy, an 18-year-old from Cerro Gordo, who stated he had been held at gunpoint and threatened with death if his friend did not provide the robbers with money, Chabak said.

Police officer Bradley A. Hall recalled the story in a sworn statement filed in court. He said the two victims stated their ordeal began at 11:38 p.m. Thursday when they arrived at Huck's and met a man they knew who was accompanied by a man they did not know.

The Decatur victim stated their acquaintance immediately began yelling at them, so he took off running across U.S. 36 away from the confrontation, Hall said. The man stated he believed his friend was with him, then realized he was not, but the man hid for a few minutes before returning to his car at Huck's, Hall said.

The man stated soon after he got back to his car, he received a call on his cellular phone and recognized the voice of the man who had been yelling at him, Hall said.

The victim stated the man instructed him to place money in his car in a parking lot in the 100 block of North 22nd Street if he wanted to see his friend again, Hall said. He did so, then took a golf club for protection and hid nearby behind a garbage container, Hall said.

The unknown man he had seen earlier came to his car and got in, the victim stated, so he ran to the vehicle to confront him, Hall said. The robber ran west, but the victim decided not to chase him and instead ran to Huck's to call police, he said.

The two suspects were found by police in a garage in the 2100 block of East Wood Street and were identified by both victims as their assailants, Hall said.

Neighborhood residents told officers they had seen the two suspects running between houses in the 2000 block of East Prairie Avenue, and during a search there, officers found a .357-caliber revolver that had five spent shell casings in the cylinder and a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol with four lives rounds in it, Hall said.

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