Merchant: Feds arrested 2 employees


Raid leaves Ketchum coffee shop short on staff

By :TERRY SMITH


Federal immigration officers arrested two bakers at the Java on Fourth coffee shop in Ketchum this week, leaving the restaurant short-staffed for the Memorial Day weekend.

Java owner Todd Rippo declined to release the employees' names, but said both are women he believes are originally from Peru. He said the immigration raid occurred Wednesday afternoon.

"All I know is they took two of my bakers, people I've had for a decade," Rippo said. "They had everything that the law requires them to have, and you show up at work and they're gone.

"I don't know why it would happen now and not nine years ago," he said. "They've worked at restaurants around the valley. It's not just me. I've employed their families for years.

"It's just kind of upsetting, just before Memorial Day weekend," he said.

Additional information was not immediately available from Ketchum police or Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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