HOMESTEAD, Fla. — A Homestead man is accused of holding a smoke shop employee at knifepoint and then stealing cash from the register.
The suspect, identified as 35-year-old Charles Benhur Fuller, was arrested just after 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the the Homestead Police Department.
Police said officers responded just after 1:30 p.m. to the Vapor Home Smoke Shop, located at 180 N. Homestead Blvd., after receiving a call that an armed robbery had occurred.
They said a witness told officers that he walked into the store and noticed a man behind the counter, which he found unusual because a female employee normally works there.
The witness said he then saw the man run out of the store and asked the employee if everything was OK. The employee told him the man had just held a knife to her back and robbed the store, according to Fuller’s arrest report.
The report states that the employee later told officers through a translator that Fuller entered the store wearing orange shorts, black shoes and a blue shirt.
She said she was behind the counter when she “suddenly felt a sharp object pressing against her back several times,” according to police.
Police said Fuller then told her to “give me everything in the register.” The victim said she handed over about $300 in cash before the man put the money in his pockets and fled north on North Homestead Boulevard.
They said officers reviewed surveillance video that confirmed a knife about seven inches long was used during the robbery.
Authorities issued a be-on-the-lookout alert and began searching the area. Around 1:50 p.m., they said an officer spotted a man matching the suspect’s description in the parking lot of a Lowe’s at 1850 NE Eighth St., where he was detained.
Police said a search revealed $581.76 in cash in Fuller’s pockets.
Both the victim and the witness later positively identified Fuller during a show-up, according to the report.
Police said Fuller was taken to the Homestead Police Department, where he was read his Miranda rights and denied involvement in the robbery.
Jail records show Fuller is facing one count of armed robbery with a firearm or deadly weapon.
As of Thursday morning, he was being held without bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. A judge also ordered him to stay away from the victim and smoke shop.
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