Police Apprehend Fourth Armed Robbery Suspect

Bristol Township police say they have nabbed the fourth suspect in an armed robbery attempt of a tobacco store on Harmer Street in October.

Adrian Herrera-Peralta, 24, of Somerset, N.J., faces four felony counts of robbery, conspiracy, receiving stolen property and related charges after police say he participated in an armed robbery of Levittown Distributors on Oct. 12 that ended with a police pursuit through Tullytown.

Herrea-Peralta's three alleged accomplices, Jonathan Martinez Gonzalez, 28, of Newark, N.J.; Jose Ayala Silva, 23, of East Orange, N.J.; and Joel Torres, 23, of Somerset, N.J., were arrested immediately after the robbery and have been sent to Bucks County prison on similar charges in lieu of 10 percent payment of $500,000 bail.

According to police, the New Jersey State Police Strategic Operations Unit was conducting a hotel check at the Somerset-Bridgewater Hotel in Somerset, N.J., on Oct. 24. During the check, the affidavit says, one of the officers noted an odor of marijuana coming from one of the rooms.

The officers found Herrea-Peralta in the room with two other people, the report says. During a search of the room, officers found a cardboard box containing about $20,000 in moist, moldy cash that smelled like stagnant water, police say.

While questioned by a Bristol Township police officer, Herrera-Peralta admitted to being in Pennsylvania with Torres, Marintez-Gonzalez and Ayala-Silva on Oct. 12, the report says.

According to the affidavit, video surveillance at Levittown Distributors shows a White Ford Crown Victoria backing up to the store's open garage door. Police say the video shows a passenger exit the car holding a shotgun, the driver getting out with a handgun and a third passenger exiting and walking into the warehouse with a handgun. A fourth passenger appeared to refuse to get out of the car, according to the police report.

The criminal complaint says that two of the men held the employees at gunpoint while the third entered the inner office and left with a cardboard box holding the cash deposit for the business, about $80,000.

As the gunmen fled the business in the white Ford Crown Victoria, a passerby began to follow them in his own vehicle on Bristol Pike, police say. The gunmen got stuck in traffic caused by road construction and used the closed lane to get around the gridlock, the report says.

The witness following the robbers beeped at a nearby Tullytown patrol car and motioned to the Crown Victoria, the affidavit says. According to the report, the Crown Victoria stopped at an intersection and the four men ran into a brushy, wooded area around Bordentown Road.

Area police departments established a perimeter and used K-9 units to track down and apprehend Torres, Martinez-Gonzalez and Ayala-Silva, but Herrera-Peralta managed to get away, according to the report.