ELYRIA, Ohio — A 26-year-old Toledo man has been arrested by federal authorities for allegedly robbing an Elyria pawn shop at gunpoint last month.
Dewayne J. O’Neal was arrested and on Wednesday morning was transferred from Lorain County Jail to federal custody by the FBI, the Cleveland Division of the FBI and the Elyria Police Department announced Wednesday.
On June 16 at about 12:53 p.m., Elyria police responded to a hold-up alarm at Cash land Pawn Shop on Abbe Road in Elyria, according to an FBI news release. Employees at the shop told responding officers that the store had just been robbed.
The alleged robber entered carrying an Apple mini-computer, pretending to pawn it, the release states. He instead pulled out a semi-automatic weapon, pointed it at the store clerk and provided a note that stated: “All the money in the register or I will shoot you and run.”
An investigation identified O’Neal as a possible suspect. He was located at the Economic Inn and Suites in North Randall, and was taken into custody without incident by Elyria and North Randall officers.
Searches of O’Neal’s room and vehicle resulted in the seizure of evidence including a loaded semi-automatic Taurus firearm and an AK-47-style machine pistol, the release states. O’Neal acknowledged both were his weapons.
O’Neal will have an initial appearance in U.S. Magistrate Judge William H. Baughman’s courtroom on charges of interference with commerce by threats or violence and use of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence, officials said.
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