Suspect in armored car robbery nabbed after he went back for cash he’d stowed away
HONOLULU, Hawaii November 14 2019 Police arrested a suspect who allegedly grabbed a money bag from an armored car guard Tuesday after he went back for the cash he’d stowed in a backyard, sources said.
The robbery happened just before 9 a.m. at the McDonalds off Nimitz Highway and Koapaka Street.
Police identified the suspect as 25-year-old Jacob Mariano. He was arrested for second-degree robbery and first-degree burglary.
Witnesses say the suspect snatched the bag before the guard could lock it up.
“I just seen him appear out of the corner of my eye while I was drinking my coffee and eating my hash brown,” said bystander William Bell. “He looked like he was high. On dope or something.”
From his seat on the patio outside McDonalds, Bell said he saw the suspect long before a crime was ever committed.
“He came across the street you know what I’m saying. He came out from the gas station,” Bell said.
At first, he thought the man was headed inside the restaurant. But Bell soon realized he had other intentions.
“He came right in and timed it. Stopped and stirred right here,” Bell said, pointing at a parking stall outside the restaurant.
“When they guard came out and set foot on the pavement and got close to the truck, that’s when he went and snatched the plastic bag out of the dude’s arm.”
There was no weapon involved ― just physical force.
Police say the guard, who’s in his late 60s, tried to hold on to the bag but the suspect wrestled it away.
Meanwhile, the guard’s partner was still in the truck.
“The guard was trying to chase after him and I was drinking my coffee and I was like, “son of a *****.” The dude had like a four or five second head start of me,” said Bell.
“I threw my hat down and went and chased him, know what I mean. And I told the guard I got this and ran after the dude.”
Bell said he lost sight of the alleged robber after he made it over the fence and into the Catlin Park neighborhood.
That’s where HNN came across another crime scene. Police said they suspected the same man in a car theft on Dewert Lane.
“The time element was very close where a vehicle was stolen from military housing,” said police Capt. Robert Towne.
Sources say the bag of cash was found wrapped in a shirt and stashed in a nearby backyard.
Officers made an arrest just after 3 p.m. when the suspect came back ― looking for the money.
HawaiiNewsNow
