MUNCIE, Ind, — An Indianapolis man with a history of robbery-related convictions has been arrested in a Friday holdup at a Muncie check cashing business.
James Howard Johnson III, 36, was being held without bond in the Delaware County Jail on Saturday, preliminarily charged with armed robbery, pointing a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
According to Deputy Police Chief Melissa Criswell, a bandit robbed employees at Check Into Cash, 420 E. McGalliard Road, about 11:15 a.m. Friday.
According to an affidavit, a man “entered the store, displayed a firearm and took a cash drawer” containing more than $2,000.
Witnesses told city police the robber pointed the gun at employees and “ordered them onto the ground.”
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Officers were also told the gunman had fled in a “dark blue Chevrolet Trailblazer with a loud exhaust.”
Investigators learned from Ball State University police that the occupant of a Trailblazer earlier in the morning had pulled behind a parked vehicle near the campus and took that car’s license plate.
That information, and surveillance images, allowed Muncie police to link the SUV to Johnson, who they learned was on federal probation for an armed robbery conviction. They were also able to confirm the vehicle had been in Muncie on Friday morning.
A federal parole officer gave Muncie police Johnson’s address, on Warman Avenue in Indianapolis, and also said he had surveillance images of Johnson recently purchasing blue latex gloves at a Lowes store. The bandit at the Muncie business on Friday was wearing what appeared to be blue latex gloves.
The parole officer also confirmed he had seen a dark blue SUV parked outside Johnson’s home.
Members of the FBI Safe Street Task Force on Friday found the SUV outside an Indianapolis grocery store, where they took Johnson — determined to have a “large amount of U.S. currency in his pockets” — into custody.
Johnson told investigators he had not driven the SUV in recent days because of mechanical problems. However, his girlfriend reportedly said he had left their home in the vehicle on Friday morning.
A warrant that allowed police to search both the SUV and a house in Indianapolis resulted in seizure of clothing similar to that worn by the bandit during Friday’s robbery, along with a handgun and a “blue rubber gardening-style glove.”
Johnson was returned to Muncie and delivered to the county jail. He was being held without bond due to a federal parole hold requested by the parole agent.
The Delaware County prosecutor’s office will determine what formal charges will be filed in connection with the Muncie holdup.
Court records reflect that in addition to his federal robbery conviction, Johnson was convicted of armed robbery in western Indiana’s Vigo County in 2005, 2008 and 2012.
Deputy Chief Criswell praised city police detectives for the prompt work that led to Friday’s arrest.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Indy man arrested after holdup at Muncie check cashing store
