Suspects charged in one of recent University of Houston campus robberies

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The University of Houston Police Department says they have made arrests in one of the recent campus robberies targeting students.

UH Police Chief Ceasar Moore announced the charges during a Friday morning news conference about the three aggravated robberies that took place on or near the campus last week.

Police say Ricardo Jamel Tangarife, the alleged gunman, and Anthony Theus, the store clerk accused of knowingly accepting a stolen credit card, were arrested Thursday in the campus robbery that took place on September 19.

According to police, within 45 minutes of the September 19th robbery, the suspects were seen using the student's stolen credit card on surveillance cameras at Memorial City Mall.

Authorities say Tangarife, 22, along with a woman identified as Sue Helen Ortiz, also known as "Roxy" and known to be a dancer at a local strip club, were both seen on surveillance using that credit card. Police say both bought several hundred dollars' worth of adult and children's shoes.

They say Theus, 21, was also in on the credit card scam.

Police are investigating to determine if these suspects could be connected to the other two robberies as well.

Police are still searching for the 19-year-old Ortiz and say charges are expected to be filed soon. They are also investigating additional persons of interest, including the getaway driver.

The announcement follows the appointment last Friday of an investigative task force focused on solving the crimes and the hiring of five new campus police supervisors, five new patrol officers and a full-time crime prevention officer.

Samica Knight will have more on this story on ABC13 Eyewitness News.

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Suspects sought in series of armed robberies at Cricket stores

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Police are hot on the trail of thieves who've been barging into cell phone stores and demanding money.

There have been at least a dozen robberies in just the past three months. One of the latest stores to be hit was at FM 1960 and Aldine Westfield.

Humble police tell us there have been at least 15 armed robberies of Cricket stores in the area in about a month and a half, some of them violent. Inside this store, surveillance cameras were rolling with the volume up as one employee quickly realized the men she thought were customers actually were armed robbers.

It started off as a slow day at work. With no customers and all alone inside the Cricket store, the employee is heard happily singing. She stops when she notices what she thinks were customers heading into the cell phone store.

Constantly looking around then reaching for his shoe laces, the suspect continues to stall. The surveillance video clearly shows him raising his sweatshirt and pulling out a gun. The suspect then walks around the counter.

Scared, the employee refuses to open the register, even arguing with both suspects, one of them heard in the background saying, "Open the register, you open it, you open it. You better open that register."

Grabbing a handful of cash the suspect walks away, but before leaving he warns her to keep quiet, "You better keep your mouth closed, too."

Humble police believe these three people -- two males and a female -- as well as a fourth suspect are behind this robbery and more than a dozen others, including one where a Cricket employee was assaulted.

People in the area say they hope the suspects are caught before they strike again.

"You are terrorizing this young lady for the rest of her life, you figure 15, 20 minutes of terror, it's going to last for the rest of her life," said resident Calvin Davis.

We're told that employee quit after the robbery at this cell phone store.

Humble police say they have gotten several tips and that the investigation is progressing well.

If you have any information about any of these robberies, you are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. There is a cash reward.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
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Seven arrested in string of bank robberies

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The seventh and final suspect involved in the October robberies of two banks in the northwest sector of Fort Bend County was arrested on a warrant last week.

Fort Bend County Sheriff's deputies, along with US Marshals, arrested Karrmyne Laron Barros, 31, in Houston. He is charged with aggravated robbery and is being held in the Fort Bend County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

Barros is the seventh suspect involved in the aggravated robberies of two banks, which occurred within a week's time in early October.

On October 3, the Capital One Bank located in the 23900 block of Westheimer Parkway was robbed by three subjects.

On Thursday, October 6, the second aggravated robbery was conducted by four subjects who hit the IBC Bank in the 10500 block of State Highway 6 South at West Bellfort.

By Tuesday, October 11, Fort Bend County Sheriff's detectives had identified at least two of the suspects in these robberies -- Ashley Ann Jackson, 23, and Johnathan Charles Simmons, 22. By Thursday, October 13, Simmons had been arrested and another suspect, Darius Broussard, 17, had been identified.

"On some of these arrests, we received tips from the Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers hotline, and on the rest, it was good hard work by our detectives," said Captain James Burger of the Sheriff"s Office Criminal Investigation Division.

On Friday, Oct. 14, Jackson surrendered at the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. A warrant for Broussard was sent to Lafayette, Louisiana, and the local police agency arrested him there.

"Our warrants division did an outstanding job of rounding up the remaining suspects who played a role in these two robberies," Burger said.

Along with Simmons, Jackson and Barros, Amyillia Bruno, Dominique Blakley and Broussard were arrested. Farouk Odariko, 24, is being held in the Harris County Jail on a parole violation. He faces two counts of aggravated robbery in Fort Bend County.

Simmons, Bruno and Jackson were identified as the subjects who entered the Capital One Bank on Oct. 3. Broussard joined those three in robbing the IBC Bank on Oct. 6.

Odariko, 24, was identified as a driver in both cases, and Blakley, 17, and Barros also drove vehicles in the second robbery. All suspects are from the Houston area.

Jackson and Bruno face two counts of aggravated robbery with $100,000 bonds on each count.

Simmons faces the two aggravated robbery charges with the same bond amounts, but he also has a charge of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, which has an additional $50,000 bond. He also faces a parole violation.

Broussard has a $100,000 bond on one aggravated robbery charge, while Barros has a $50,000 bond on one aggravated robbery charge.

Blakley, 21, had a bond of $25,000 on one count of aggravated robbery. He posted bail on Dec. 16.

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Suspect in Hallmark Store robbery linked to 15 robberies

William Thomas Tucker is charged with aggravated robbery

  SUGAR LAND, TX (KTRK) -- A Houston man has been arrested in the robbery of a Hallmark store in Sugar Land.

Sugar Land police arrested William Thomas Tucker for an aggravated robbery at Trudy's Hallmark at 15233 Southwest Freeway on January 2. Employees told police a man entered the store at 3:45pm, displayed a handgun and demanded money from the cash register. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash in a black pickup truck.

Police located the vehicle traveling northbound in the 12800 block of Highway 59. A brief pursuit was terminated due to traffic concerns at 59 and Loop 610.

Tucker, who police say is the vehicle's registered owner, was arrested on January 4. Sugar Land police say Tucker confessed to the robbery in Sugar Land. His bond was set at $50,000.

Tucker has also been linked to at least 15 similar robberies in the cities of Houston, Stafford and Webster.

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One suspect arrested, one sought in bank robberies

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Two bank robberies took place around Houston Wednesday morning and one suspect is in custody while authorities are searching for another suspect who was dressed as a construction worker.

Houston police say the first robbery took place at around 7:25am at the Bank of America at 2600 Hackett in northwest Houston. The suspect is described as a black male in his 30s to 40s, wearing a hard hat and a yellow bandana over his face with construction worker clothing. The suspect was armed and fled in an older model Lexus.

The second robbery happened at 3434 Tidwell in north Houston at around 9:10am, according to police, when the suspect approached the counter with a gun. The FBI says the suspect was arrested by an off-duty HPD officer at that location.

Stay with Eyewitness News and abc13.com for the latest on this story.

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