Officers Later Recognized Suspect From Another Robbery
SALINAS—The Salinas Police Department responded to the Taco Bell on North Main Street on a report of an armed robbery. Officers arrested 27-year-old Mercurio Bose after he was found in the vehicle that was described as being involved in the armed robbery.
Bose is accused of robbing this Taco Bell at 4 am.
On Wednesday March 11, at 4 in the morning, police learned from the employees of the Taco Bell that a suspect had driven up in a dark colored car and placed an order. The restaurant keeps the window to the drive thru closed in the early morning hours until the vehicle drives up, then they open it.
Once the employee opened the window Bose exited the vehicle and pointed a black colored handgun at the employees. He ordered an employee to open the register, and then fled in his vehicle with an undetermined amount of cash.
Bose thought he had made a clean get-away, but an alert witness provided police with an accurate description of the vehicle. Officers made an area check, and within the hour police had spotted a suspicious vehicle, matching the description, driving in the area of North Main Street and Harden Parkway. Police conducted a high-risk stop, and Bose was identified as the driver.
Bose displays two pieces of possible evidence – his car and replica gun. (Facebook)
One of the employees identified Bose as the armed robbery suspect. Police conducted a search of his vehicle and found stolen cash as well as a replica firearm inside.
Bose was taken to the police station for booking, and while there, other officers recognized him from surveillance footage of another armed robbery earlier that week. He was identified as the suspect in the Shell Gas Station robbery on North Main Street.
He was booked into the Monterey County Jail on two counts of armed robbery and several counts of false imprisonment.
