Trackdown: Viewers help Rowlett police arrest the ‘courteous robber’
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Help find Rowlett’s ‘courteous robber’
Rowlett police are looking for a man they’ve nicknamed the "courteous robber." He’s been targeting vape stores in the city.
ROWLETT, Texas - Rowlett police said tips from FOX 4 viewers helped lead to the arrest of a suspect nicknamed the "courteous robber."
He was wanted for at least two recent armed robberies at vape stores.
Trackdown Arrest
What's new:
Police said they began getting calls about the suspect as soon as Shaun Rabb's Trackdown story aired on Wednesday evening.
Detectives gathered enough information to take the suspect into custody.
However, he is a juvenile, so his name and mugshot will not be released.
The Courteous Robber
The backstory:
The suspect was wanted for targeting at least two vape stores within a span of a few days.
On April 30, he robbed Top Cloud Vape. He entered the store near closing time and pointed a gun at the clerk, demanding vapes.
He was wearing a dark hoodie and black goggles, but video from inside the store still showed much of his face. He also asked the clerk to put the goods in a bag stamped with the name A. Nelson.
Before leaving, the suspect apologized to the clerk, telling him he’d fallen on hard times.
Then, on May 6, video shows the same person breaking a window with a hammer and entering the nearby World of Smoke and Vape. More of his face is visible in this video, including his Mohawk-style haircut.
What they're saying:
"He's used a handgun. So we know that he's able to resort to violence and he's going to hit again if he truly is on hard times and desperate," Rowlett Police Det. Eric Shing told FOX 4’s Shaun Rabb. "We don't want anybody to get hurt. We want him to get identified."
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FOX 4’s Trackdown
Dig deeper:
You can watch Shaun Rabb’s Trackdown series every Wednesday on FOX 4. Episodes are also posted weekly online and on FOX Local.
With this arrest, FOX 4 viewers have helped police make 199 arrests.
The Source: The information in this story comes from the Rowlett Police Department and FOX 4 reporter Shaun Rabb's interview with Det. Eric Shing.