'Captain America' Robbery Suspect Arrested In Modesto
MODESTO (CBS13) - The "Captain America" Modesto robbery suspect was arrested Wednesday when he tried to strike again, police said.
Modesto Police officers were called to Rogers Jewelry, located at 3600 Sisk Road in northwest Modesto, at about 4 p.m. for a report of an attempted robbery. Employees at the jewelry store reported a heavyset man wearing a ski mask and armed with a baseball bat attempted to enter the store. A Rogers Jewelry employee locked the door when he saw the suspect approaching.
After the suspect attempted to open the front door and realized it was locked, he returned to his parked white Ford Focus and drove away. Employees of the store then reported the attempted robbery and provided officers with the vehicle description.
An officer who was nearby heard the call and began to look for the Focus. Within minutes, Officer Jim Reeves located the suspect vehicle near Dale Road and Braden Avenue, police said. A traffic stop was made and the driver was detained. The driver, 22-year-old Aaron Gonzalez of Modesto, was arrested without incident.
Officers located a ski mask, baseball bat and firearm inside the car. Gonzalez was positively identified by Rogers Jewelry employees. Employees also recognized Gonzalez as the suspect who previously robbed the jewelry store on Aug. 13, police said. In that incident the suspect wore a mask and used a baseball bat to smash a glass display counter and took several items of jewelry.
When detectives questioned Gonzalez, they determined he had been involved in a recent crime spree that included two other robberies Monday where the suspect wore a "Captain America" mask to steal money from a Check 'N' Go Cashing and William Douglas Jewelry store.
Detectives went to Gonzalez's home and recovered additional evidence linking him to the robberies, including the recovery of the "Captain America" mask, police said.
Gonzalez was booked into the Stanislaus County jail on three counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery.
