TOLEDO

2 men arrested following rash of city robberies

2/13/2014

Kaczala

Two men believed to be serial robbers who used a sock over a suspected gun while robbing at least a dozen businesses are to be arraigned today in Toledo Municipal Court.

Aaron Jump, 31, of 5122 Brandon Rd., and Dustin Kaczala, 30, 1151 Eastgate Rd., are charged with two counts each of aggravated robbery. Both are being held in the Lucas County jail pending arraignment.

Police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said the two were arrested after a traffic stop Tuesday night following a holdup at Rudy’s Hot Dog, 4748 Monroe St., which was robbed at 8:43 p.m.

Employees at Rudy’s told police that a man with a blue bandanna came into the restaurant and demanded cash from the register.

After getting $250 to $300, the suspect ordered the employees to the floor and then fled, according to a police incident report.

Police were already in the area at the time of the robbery and stopped the vehicle that Mr. Jump was driving; Mr. Kaczala was a passenger. The two were taken into custody without further incident.

“We have been saturating that area,” Sergeant Heffernan said. “We believed something like this would happen.”

More charges are expected to be filed against both suspects; Sergeant Heffernan said the two are believed to be linked to at least 12 robberies in the West Toledo area. The pair are so far charged in the Rudy’s robbery and for a Feb. 8 robbery at Subway, 1564 S. Byrne Rd. More charges are expected, the sergeant said.

Other gun-in-sock robberies from around the city, since the beginning of the year, include Great Clips, 5350 Airport Hwy., on Jan. 10; Tim Hortons, 5640 Airport Hwy., on Jan. 24; Stop ’N Go, 2205 N. Holland-Sylvania Rd., on Jan. 26; Rudy’s Hot Dog, 4747 Glendale Ave., on Jan. 28; Baskin Robbins, 4015 Secor Rd., on Feb. 2; and Little Caesars, 3245 W. Alexis Ave., on Feb. 7.

Information on other cases that are being linked to the suspects was not available.

The apparent mode of operation was for one of the alleged suspects to go into a business, with a sock over what appeared to be a gun, and demand cash from employees. The other alleged suspect would stay in the car.

Sergeant Heffernan said police took evidence from the suspects’ vehicle, although he would not say if a sock or weapon was found. He also said the duo were “pretty careful in their location and how they were perpetrating their crimes as far as trying to conceal themselves.”

Sergeant Heffernan could not elaborate on how the two allegedly chose their targets and were able to conceal their identities during the heists.

“It took us a little bit of time to figure out that we had a pattern,” the sergeant said. “It was really good police work, trying to narrow down when and where they were likely to strike. We had officers in the area after it happened for this very particular situation.”

Contact Taylor Dungjen at tdungjen@theblade.com, or 419-724-6054, or on Twitter @taylordungjen.