EPHRATA — An Ephrata teenager accused of robbing a gas station pleaded not guilty in Grant County Superior Court.

Cody W. Miller, 17, is charged with one count of robbery in the first degree and one count of theft in the third degree.

The boy is being charged as an adult under a Washington state law mandating 16- or 17-year-olds charged with certain crimes to be tried as an adult.

Miller and another man stopped in the parking lot of a nearby hotel, so the other man could get a soda. Miller said he was going to use the computer in the hotel, according to an Ephrata police report. As Miller’s friend was going to pay for his soda, Miller allegedly robbed the store, ordering his friend outside.

Police identified Miller’s friend from the surveillance recordings. When an officer dropped off the man after an interview, he allegedly noticed Miller wearing similar clothes, according to the police report.

The investigators later pressed Miller’s friend about the robbery after hearing rumors of Miller having a lot of money. The man explained he didn’t know what Miller allegedly planned and confessed to witnessing the robbery.

When the investigator questioned Miller, he told them he was using the computer at Best Western, and said his friend was acting weird when he dropped him off to get a soda.