UPDATE: Elyria police arrest man wanted in motel, gas station robberies; North Ridgeville police also file charge

This story has been updated. Elyria and North Ridgeville police are accusing a Lorain County man of robbing two motels and a gas station over the weekend. Joseph Powers, 45, who on an Elyria police report had a last known address on Bainbridge Road in North Ridgeville, is facing two felony aggravated robbery charges and one felony robbery charge, according to police and jail records. As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, he was being held in in the Lorain County Jail on $60,000 bond after North Ridgeville police added a robbery charge to the list of alleged crimes. The first report came in just after 7:30 a.m. Sunday, when officers were called to the Sunoco gas station at 645 Cleveland St. in Elyria for a reported robbery. Police say Powers entered the store, brought an Arizona Iced Tea to the counter and asked first for a carton of Marlboro Lights cigarettes. The clerk, a 35-year-old Elyria woman, told him she did not have a carton and instead handed him a single pack of cigarettes through the security window. The clerk told police that the man then handed her a note with several misspellings in it that read: "This is a robbery I have a gun give me the money out of the droor tand nobody will get shot." According to a police report, the clerk replied: "I'm not doing this and I'm calling the cops." The robber didn't get any money and ran off with the tea and cigarettes, which were worth a total of $9.05, according to a police report. Then, just before 10:30 a.m. Sunday, an Elyria police officer responded to the Sprucewood Inn at 912 Lorain Blvd. to take a report on a robbery that had happened earlier that morning. The front-desk clerk, a 68-year-old Elyria woman, told police that a man entered the front lobby and handed her a poorly written note at about 7:45 a.m. The clerk recognized the word "robbery" on the note and as she reached under the desk to grab the money drawer, the man ran out of the lobby without getting any money, according to a police report. No weapons were shown and the clerk was not harmed. Detectives got surveillance video images from both businesses, compared them and posted them on the department's Facebook page. The suspect's vehicle also was identified as a white two-door Chevrolet Silverado pickup. Elyria Police Capt. William Pelko said the public helped identify Powers as the robber. Just before 8 p.m. Monday, detectives saw Powers walk out of the CSL Plasma location at 255 Midway Blvd. and arrested him without incident, according to Elyria police. After being advised of his rights, Powers admitted to the robberies and admitted not only to robbing the Sprucewood Inn and the Sunoco, but also the Motel 6 in North Ridgeville. In that incident, Powers entered the lobby of the Motel 6 at 32751 Lorain Road shortly after 1 a.m. Sunday and handed the clerk a note saying he had a gun in his pocket and to give him the cash in the register, North Ridgeville police wrote on the department's Facebook page. Police say Powers kept his left hand in his jacket pocket the entire time, but no weapon was seen. After the clerk handed over $300 in cash, he ran north through the parking lot of the University Hospitals North Ridgeville Health Center, got into his truck and drove west on Lorain Road, North Ridgeville police said. Powers told Elyria police he committed the robberies "because he was high on a crack binge and needed money," according to a police report. Powers has prior convictions in Lorain County Common Pleas Court for tampering with evidence and marijuana trafficking, and currently is facing multiple charges of breaking and entering and felony theft, also in Common Pleas Court. He has pleaded not guilty in that case and was free on bond at the time of his newest arrest, according to court records. That case is assigned to Judge Mark Betleski's courtroom, with a pretrial hearing scheduled in June. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter