Arrest made in Cape Coral liquor store robbery

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- Police have made an arrest in an armed robbery that occurred at a south Cape Coral Publix liquor store Monday night.

Timothy Holden, 30, was arrested after police linked him to two robbery scenes.

Around 7:15 p.m. Monday, a man entered the Publix Liquor Store located at 127 Cape Coral Pkwy W. Authorities say the suspect took out a knife from his pocket and pointed it at a store employee while demanding the money from the cash register.  The suspect grabbed the entire cash drawer and fled from the store with an unknown amount of cash.

Store surveillance video showed the suspect wearing a unique gray hooded sweatshirt with multicolored symbols, black shorts, and gray and reflective maroon color running shoes. After leaving the store, the suspect was seen getting in a white vehicle.

Later that night, around 2:30 a.m., the Lee County Sheriff’s Department received a robbery report at a 7-11 store in North Fort Myers involving a suspect that matched the description from the Publix robbery.

Deputies spotted a white PT Cruiser fleeing the scene. The suspect crashed near the Bell Tower shopping center in south Fort Myers and was taken into custody.

The suspect, later identified as Holden, was transported to a local hospital for injuries from the accident.

Authorities found the same clothes and shoes worn by the Publix robber, laying on the ground outside the crashed car.

On the back seat of the car was a cash drawer that appeared to be the same as was stolen from Publix. Money was also visible on the ground outside and inside the car.

Police compared Holden’s palm prints on record at CCPD to a palm print recovered by at Publix and confirmed that it matched.

Holden has since been released from the hospital and is currently at Lee County Jail.