James Insular booking photo
SALINAS — Police have announced the arrest of 30-year-old James Insular, who was wanted on suspicion of robbing a Subway on Main Street the Friday night before Christmas weekend. He was finally arrested the following week after a citizen recognized him in his photo on the Salinas PD Facebook page.
On Friday, December 23rd, an armed suspect — later identified as Insular — walked into the Subway sandwich shop at 1180 South Main and left with an undisclosed amount of cash. All police had to go on was the vague description of a man wearing a grey beanie with strings, a dark-colored sweatshirt, and black pants. They were also able to obtain a surveillance photo, which they posted to their Facebook page in hopes that someone may recognize him.
On Saturday, December 31st, someone did.
A member of the Seaside Police Department called in to say they’d stopped Insular in Seaside after a resident recognized him from the Salinas PD Facebook page. A Salinas officer then interviewed him and obtained enough information to pursue an investigation in connection to the Subway robbery.
The investigation continued through the weekend while investigators gathered enough evidence to file formal charges. As it turned out, once the time came, Insular was already in custody at Monterey County Jail on an unrelated charge.
