NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A New Jersey man has been charged nearly five years to the day after he allegedly fell through the ceiling of a check-cashing business and robbed an employee and the store of nearly $700,000 in cash.
Travis A. Bryant, 41, is charged with first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, and fourth-degree possession of an imitation handgun, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced Friday.
The West Long Branch Police Department responded to the check-cashing business on Route 36 around 9 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2017, on a report that a silent alarm was activated.
Inside, the officers found an employee, who told them that a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt pulled tightly around his face and sunglasses had just robbed the store of "a large quantity of cash."
Investigators determined that "the man had entered the store when no customers were present and used a ladder to access and climb through ceiling ducts in order to access a secured, employees-only area of the business where cash was stored," prosecutors said.
The employee was then reportedly approached by Bryant, who claimed to be carrying a weapon, and told her to use the restroom while he stole her purse, cell phone, and about $700,000 in cash before fleeing in a van.
The 41-year-old was identified as a suspect in the case after an investigation by the West Long Branch Police Department and a special agent with the FBI.
He was arrested Thursday and held at Monmouth County Correctional Institution ahead of his first appearance and detention hearing in Monmouth County Superior Court.
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