Cedar Rapids man charged with armed robbery of Hiawatha gas station

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Cedar Rapids man was arrested over the weekend on charges that he robbed a Hiawatha gas station at gunpoint in June 2024.

Kristopher Gardner, 32, is charged with first-degree robbery, conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and going armed with intent.

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According to a criminal complaint, Gardner and another person robbed the Quick Mart at 655 Robins Rd., Hiawatha on June 3, 2024. An employee of the store told police that two men, one of whom was later identified as Gardner, came into the store and told him to open the cash register at gunpoint. They stole about $1,582 from the store.

The employee saw the two men leave on foot toward an apartment building at 235 Pirie Dr., where they got into a car that police were later to identify as a Jeep Cherokee owned by Emily Edgeton, who police say drove the two men to and from the robbery.

Edgeton was arrested in February and charged with first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a nonforcible felony. She pleaded guilty to a lesser conspiracy charge and second-degree theft in July and has a sentencing hearing scheduled for October.

According to criminal complaints, Edgeton told police that she had given Gardner a ride to and from the robbery. Police also found texts on her phone between her and Gardner, in which she told him after the robbery that she had been pulled over but covered for him.

A warrant was issued for Gardner’s arrest in July, and he was arrested Friday. He had his initial appearance in court over the weekend and is being held in the Linn County Jail on a $75,000 bond.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com