A 30-year-old Apple Valley man is being held in Washington County jail after being charged with robbing a Stillwater gas station, fleeing in a stolen SUV and spitting blood at police officers trying to subdue him.

Bail was set at $200,000 last week in Washington County District Court for Justin S. Honken. He faces charges after the March 21 robbery of the Stillwater Station in the 2200 block of Croixwood Boulevard at the junction of Hwy. 5.

According to the criminal complaint, a man later identified by two gas station employees as Honken walked in about 8 p.m. with his hand under a hooded sweatshirt with what appeared to be a gun. He demanded cash from the register and left with about $415 in a black SUV.

About 15 minutes later, a Washington County sheriff's deputy on patrol in Mahtomedi on Stillwater Road spotted the vehicle and pulled it over. When Honken refused orders to fall to the ground, authorities used a taser on him, the complaint says. After being cuffed, paramedics recommended he be evaluated at Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater.

An identification wristband from a previous stay at Washington County jail, along with $414 cash, was found in the vehicle, later found to have been stolen from a dealership in Brainerd.

At the hospital, the complaint says, Honken became belligerent, kicking at officers and screaming threats against the officers and their families. After an altercation with officers, Honken's lip began bleeding and he spit blood at two officers.

Honken is charged with one count of aggravated robbery, two counts each of making terroristic threats and assaulting a police officer with bodily fluids, motor vehicle theft and obstructing the legal process.

JIM ANDERSON