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PUBLISHED: Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Kingston man charged in armed robbery



MARLETTE – An ex-restaurant worker has been charged in connection with last weekend's armed robbery of a Burger King worker.

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The 20-year-old suspect was arrested at his residence in the Kingston area, after the victim was robbed at knife point while trying to make a night deposit of approximately $2000, said Sanilac County Undersheriff Garry Biniecki.

Joshua Michael-Wade Lawler was arraigned in 73rd District Court Monday morning on charges of armed robbery, larceny of a person, and larceny $1000 to $20,000. He demanded a preliminary examination which was scheduled for Jan. 18.

The Burger King employee called Central Dispatch to report the robbery Saturday at approximately 12:05 a.m. The preliminary investigation indicated the suspect had hid in the bushes near Independent Bank and waited for the employee to arrive with the day's receipts. The suspect fled on foot to the south, and a vehicle was seen learing the scene a short time later, southbound on M-53.

While officers from several departments searched the side roads for a suspicious vehicle, sheriff's deputies at the scene "keyed in on the fact that it was a cold night" and that "someone must have had prior knowledge" of the restaurant's procedure to be waiting at the bank, said Binicki.

"So they looked at ex-employees and disgruntled employees. That's where they lucked out," he said.

Deputies interviewed Lawler at the residence in the 4000 block of Marton Road. He was arrested for armed robbery and lodged in the Sanilac County Jail with bond set at $50,000.

Officers recovered a weapon they think was used in the crime, a kitchen knife with about a 10-inch blade, said Biniecki..

The undersheriff commended Sgt. Jim Wagester for a "textbook job of incident command", as well as Sgt. Paul Rich, and deputies Otto Kutach, Mike Moore, Russ Nowiski, Greg Barker and Nathan Smith.

"They processed the scene for evidence, interviewed witnesses, and the follow-up investigation that led to the arrest," said Biniecki.

Sheriff's officers were assisted in the investigation by officers from the Marlette, Sandusky and Brown City police departments, troopers from the Michigan State Police Post in Lapeer, the sheriff department's canine unit, and members of the Sanilac County Drug Task Force.





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