Man arrested in string of 6 armed robberies in Bradenton, sheriff’s office says
Manatee County deputies have made an arrest in a string of six armed robberies in Bradenton from November 2020 to January 2021, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday in a press release.
Chike Opene, 26, of Sarasota was arrested Monday on six counts of armed robbery, and he’s also suspected in a seventh robbery.
The first robbery happened after midnight on Nov. 8, 2020, on 38th Ave E. when a person walking home from Walmart on 27th St. was robbed at gunpoint. The suspect took the person’s cellphone and wallet and then drove off in a black sedan.
Deputies said the following evening, two people had cashed checks at Amscot and were walking back to Mira Lagos Apartments when they noticed a black sedan following them.
Before they could make it home, a man got out of the sedan and yelled, “stop running and give me your money,” the sheriff’s office said.
Both complied, and the robber took over $6,000 in cash, then got back in his vehicle and drove away.
Several days later, on Nov. 26, 2020, an employee of K & S convenience stores was also robbed at gunpoint while sitting in his van in the convenience store parking lot.
During this robbery, Opene stole a bank bag containing over $3,000, the man’s wallet, credit cards, several hundred dollars in cash, and his iPhone 11 before driving off in his black sedan, the release said.
Surveillance video from the K & S convenience store robbery helped detectives identify Chike Opene and his getaway vehicle.
Opene also is charged in three other robberies, one on Dec. 19, 2020, and two others in early January, the sheriff’s office said in the release.
In each crime, victims described a man approaching them at gunpoint, demanding cash and their cellphone, then driving away in a black sedan.
Detectives used surveillance video and cellphone evidence to link the crimes to Opene.
He is also suspected to be involved in at least one more robbery, the release said, and “more charges are expected.”
