Honduran man wanted in armed robbery at South Strabane restaurant
A man from Honduras who is in custody for a burglary in Kentucky has been identified as one of the suspects in a 2019 robbery of a Chinese restaurant in South Strabane Township.
U.S. marshals took Nelson Josue Sauceda-Nunez, 26, address unknown, into custody Aug. 7, sending him to a jail in Henderson, Ky., court records show.
A DNA sample drawn from Sauceda-Nunez in that jail matched evidence found at the scene of the Feb. 25, 2019, robbery at Grand China Buffet, 301 Oak Spring Road, South Strabane police stated in court records.
Police said Sauceda-Nunez and an unidentified man walked into the restaurant about 10:10 p.m. and went straight to an employee in the kitchen. The employee’s hands were zip-tied and he was held at gunpoint while taking the men to a unlocked safe where they are accused of stealing about $28,000.
South Strabane police also worked with officers in Michigan who were investigating a June 2019 home invasion in Traverse City involving an owner of a Chinese restaurant. DNA collected at that crime also matched that found in South Strabane, court records allege.
Sauceda-Nunez also was identified as a suspect through cellphone records, police state in the affidavit.
District Judge Michael Manfredi signed a warrant Wednesday for Sauceda-Nunez’s arrest on charges of robbery, unlawful restraint, false imprisonment, theft, conspiracy and possessing an instrument of a crime.