EDISON — Police have now arrested all three suspects in the recent attempted robbery of the T-Mobile store on Parsonage Road.
Police arrested the first two suspects, Michael E. Mitchell, 28, of Bristol, Pa., and Emendo E. Bowers, 24, of Somerset, immediately following the Jan. 12 holdup; the third, Mack Mitchell, 18, of Bristol, Pa., turned himself in to police on Jan. 19.
Edison police said two suspects entered the store at 10:56 a.m. Jan. 12, brandishing what police later determined to be imitation handguns. They demanded money, cell phones and other electronic devices from the two male employees who were in the store at the time of the robbery. Athird suspect remained in a vehicle and drove around the block onto Lafayette Avenue.
However, police had the store under surveillance at the time of the attempted robbery, as members of Edison’s Detective Bureau-Special Operations Group were investigating a string of cell phone store robberies that were believed to be connected. Two Edison stores, and one each in Franklin and South Brunswick, had been robbed since October, with suspects netting approximately $100,000 in cash and electronics, police said.
Edison Detective Steve Todd initiated a motor vehicle stop of the suspect vehicle on Lafayette Avenue. There, he apprehended the driver. Detective Sgt. Frank Todd, who was positioned to the rear of the T-Mobile store, apprehended a second suspect as the duo fled out the rear doors of the store, according to police.
Michael E. Mitchell was charged with conspiracy to robbery, conspiracy to unlawful possession of a firearm, and conspiracy to possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. His bail was set at $100,000. Bowers was charged with robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose and resisting by flight. Bowers was also charged in the Dec. 8 robbery of the T-Mobile store on Route 1 in Edison. His bail was set at $200,000.
Mack Mitchell fled the scene on foot and was not apprehended during a search of the area by several police agencies. However, Bristol, Pa., police took him into custody at a residence there. Edison police said Mack Mitchell had apparently contacted police through a family member in order to turn himself in. He was taken into custody without incident and was being held in the Bucks County Correctional Facility in Doylestown, Pa., pending extradition to New Jersey.