Ankle Monitor Helps Nab Armed Robbery Suspect: CMPD

CHARLOTTE, NC — Charlotte police say they’ve made an arrest in two east Charlotte armed robbery cases Wednesday afternoon after a suspect was connected to the crimes by the court-ordered electronic monitor he was wearing.

According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Marquez Alston, 22, was identified as the primary suspect in the two armed robberies where male victims were targeted while working on vehicles in front of their homes in east Charlotte.

The first male victim was robbed by two suspects around 4 p.m. while working on his vehicle in front of his home in the 6500 block of Yateswood Drive, police said. “The suspects forced the victim to go inside of his residence and then demanded property from everyone inside,” CMPD said.

Less than an hour later, a similar crime occurred in the 8000 block of Sherrington Way, where a man told police he was robbed at gunpoint by two suspects while he was also working on his vehicle. (For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Technology along with a K-9 unit helped police locate the suspect. “Officers in the Real Time Crime Center were able to locate Marquez Alston, who is on electronic monitoring, in close proximity to both incidents,” CMPD said.

Alston was located and was charged with two counts of armed robbery, two counts of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, felony breaking and entering, kidnapping, and four counts of false imprisonment.

Photo courtesy of the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office