An admitted gang member told a jury in Webster County District Court Thursday that he drove Cletio Clark to and from the Applebee’s that Clark is accused of robbing.

The man also said that it was his gun that Clark used to commit the robbery in the early morning hours of Sept. 30, 2018.

Clark, 29, of Fort Dodge, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree robbery.

Because of concerns for the safety of the witness — who admitted under cross-examination that he a member of the Bloods gang — The Messenger agreed to withhold his identity.

The man told jurors that he was hanging out with Clark on the evening of Sept. 29, 2018. They spent their time drinking Hennessy, watching movies and just driving around Fort Dodge.

At one point, around 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 30, the witness said Clark asked him to drop him off in the area of Applebee’s.

“What did he say?” Ryan Baldridge, first assistant Webster County attorney, asked the witness.

“He was going to go in there,” the witness said.

“Did he say what he was going to do there?”

“Get some money.”

“Did he say how he was going to do that?”

“No.”

The witness let Clark out on Seventh Avenue South, just a couple blocks away from Applebee’s, which is located at 2810 Fifth Ave. S.

Before leaving, the witness said Clark asked the man for his gun, a Glock 29.

Miles Alcazar, the hospitality manager at Applebee’s and the robbery victim, testified that he believed that was the gun used to rob him.

Clark received the gun from the witness and then left the car.

“He said, ‘well, I’m going to need that,'” the witness testified.

A short time later, at 1:43 a.m., Clark called the witness and asked him to pick him up. The witness testified he picked Clark up in the same area where he’d dropped him off and then they left the area.

Hours later, the pair left Fort Dodge and went to West Des Moines, where a mutual friend had booked a hotel room. While Clark stayed in the hotel room, the witness said he left for a few hours to visit his girlfriend, who lived in Des Moines.

Days after the robbery, Clark posted a photo on his Facebook page showing him with a wad of cash, including at least one $100 bill.

The witness testified that the photo was taken in the same hotel room he and Clark had stayed at in West Des Moines. He wasn’t present when the photo was taken, but he recognized the layout of the room, he said.

Eventually the pair returned to Fort Dodge.

When questioned by Baldridge, the man admitted that he was originally going to be an alibi witness for Clark and his defense team, but he ended up not doing so.

The witness also admitted that he signed an agreement with the Webster County attorney’s office that, in exchange for his testimony against Clark, he will not be prosecuted for his role in the robbery.

However, the witness is still facing a charge for an unrelated case from back in October.

Under cross-examination from A. Joseph Wilson, of Ames, Clark’s attorney, the witness admitted that he does not know Clark’s number off the top of his head. When examining his own phone records, which he provided to the Fort Dodge Police Department, the witness said he couldn’t explicitly say if it was Clark who called him.

He also admitted that, after Clark got back in the car, he didn’t see any evidence of a robbery.

“You didn’t see my client with any money when he’s back in the car, do you?” Wilson asked.

“No,” the witness said.

Further, the witness also told Wilson that he can’t say for sure where the money in the hotel room came from.

“Isn’t it true that you originally told police you thought any photos of Mr. Clark holding money could have been from his music career?” Wilson asked.

“Yes,” the witness said.

That’s what Clark told Fort Dodge Police Detective Larry Hedlund that the money was from.

Hedlund, who also testified Thursday, said he interviewed Clark after the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation identified a palm print found on a box inside the Applebee’s was consistent with one of Clark’s.

In surveillance video of the robbery, the suspect can be seen slipping on the floor of the restaurant and putting his hand on a box to stop him from falling.

The robber was not wearing gloves during the incident.

Hedlund’s interview with Clark, which was done on Oct. 23, 2018, was audio recorded and played for jurors. In the interview, Clark told the detective that he hadn’t even heard of the robbery, and denied all involvement in it.

“I’m about to start my own record label,” Clark told Hedlund.

Fort Dodge police executed a search warrant on the same day of Hedlund’s interview. Investigators found similar clothing to the one that the robber was wearing in the video, including a pair of white shoes. Hedlund also told jurors that he noted Clark’s belt was covering the label on his pants, as opposed to having the belt go under the label.

That’s the same way the Applebee’s robber was wearing his belt in the surveillance video.

A blue bag similar to the one the robber was carrying was also recovered from an apartment belonging to Clark’s aunt, Hedlund said.

Prosecutors rested their case Thursday.

Wilson rested his case as well, without calling any witnesses.

District Court Judge Thomas Bice said court will reconvene at 1 p.m. today, where he believes jurors will hear their instructions as well as closing arguments.

“We will get this case submitted to you tomorrow afternoon,” Bice said Thursday.

He added that it may be decided to keep jurors in the jury room until a verdict is reached.