EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A 29-year-old man who was arrested in connection with a robbery spree this month in East El Paso was seen purchasing a pink dress and other items at a Ross Dress for Less store hours before the spree, according to court documents obtained by KTSM.
Manuel Reyes, 29, of El Paso, was arrested on two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of robbery after allegedly robbing several stores on Saturday, June 21, in East El Paso.
Court documents say on Saturday, June 21, officers responded to the GNC located at 1830 Joe Battle in reference to a robbery.
Upon arrival, officers met with a witness who stated that a subject, who was later identified as Reyes, walked into the business and demanded money while wearing a pink dress, sunglasses, a brown wig, gloves, women’s heels, and a medical mask.
Reyes then displayed a yellow Post-it note to the witness that read “Put the money in the bag,” while holding up a brown paper bag, according to court documents.
The witness told police that it looked like Reyes had a weapon in the paper bag, and the witness handed Reyes $325 from the register, court documents said.
While officers were investigating the robbery spree, they learned that Reyes was seen in a white Nissan Frontier at the parking lot of Organic Nails El Paso before the robbery had taken place, according to court documents.
Surveillance footage showed Reyes entering the nail salon while holding a plastic bag and a brown paper bag. Reyes can be seen taking his right hand out of the brown paper bag and placing the brown bag on the counter to hand an employee a note, according to court documents.
Reyes then is seen pointing to the plastic bag, prompting the employee to put the money in the plastic bag, court documents said.
The employee is then seen placing money from the cash register inside the plastic bag, and then Reyes grabs both bags and walks out of the salon, according to court documents.
In a separate attempted robbery at the Vitamin Shoppe located at 1921 Zaragoza, surveillance footage showed Reyes wearing the same dress, heels, wig, sunglasses, with a paper bag over his hand, court documents said.
Three hours before the robbery spree, a witness gave a tip to police, stating that Reryes was seen at the Ross Dress for Less store at 1848 Joe Battle, asking people where he could buy a wig, and had purchased a pink dress, red heels, and sunglasses, court documents said.
Officers reviewed surveillance footage from Ross, which confirmed the description that was given for Reyes, along with the vehicle he was driving.
Officers also learned that the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office was investigating a separate robbery that happened the same day at a Subway in East El Paso. Officers were able to confirm that Reyes was also the same person who committed the robbery at Subway, court documents said.
Several days after the robbery spree, on Monday, June 23, a traffic stop was conducted on Reyes, where he was later arrested on a traffic violation.
Reyes was driving the same vehicle that was used during the robbery spree, and officers discovered the yellow Post-it note that read “Put the money in the bag” and a brown paper bag.
Officers were then able to obtain an arrest warrant for aggravated robbery on Reyes, where they were able to confirm that Reyes was driving the same vehicle from the robbery spree prior to the traffic stop, and the same note and other items that were used during the spree were found in the Nissan, court documents said.
Reyes was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility on Tuesday, June 24, with a total bond of $130,000, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
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