Jackson man climbed through ceiling ductwork, to rob check cashing business of $700,000

Jackson man climbed through ceiling ductwork, to rob check cashing business of $700,000

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – A 41-year-old Jackson man was arrested after being identified in an armed robbery of West Long Branch check cashing business on Thursday. Police responded to the business on Route 36 at around 9 am to find it had been robbed at gunpoint of over $700,000 in cash.

Travis A. Bryant, 41, was identified and later arrested after an investigation by the West Long Branch Police Department and the FBI.

According to police, a silent alarm was activated after Bryant fell from the ceiling of the business. Police said Bryant had entered the store when no customers were present and used a ladder to access and climb through ceiling ducts in order to access a secured, employees-only area of the business where cash was stored.

When police arrived, a lone employee reported that a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt pulled tightly around his face and sunglasses had just robbed the store of a large quantity of cash.

“After falling through the ceiling, Bryant reportedly approached the store employee, indicating that he was in possession of a weapon, and ordered her into the store bathroom while he made off with her purse, cell phone, and approximately $700,000 in cash, driving away in a van,” police said.

At approximately 9 a.m. on Thursday, November 2, 2017, members of the West Long Branch Police Department responded to the check-cashing business on Route 36 on a report of a silent alarm activation

It was quickly determined that the man After falling through the ceiling, Bryant reportedly approached the store employee, indicating that he was in possession of a weapon, and ordered her into the store bathroom while he made off with her purse, cell phone, and approximately $700,000 in cash, driving away in a van.

Phil Stilton

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