A suspect in the armed robbery on Martha’s Vineyard was arraigned this morning at Edgartown District Court.
Miquel Jones, 30, is being charged with accessory after the fact.
An arraignment report released by the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s office provides new details about the crime.
Three people in masks and dark clothing robbed the Rockland Trust Bank Thursday morning. The amount stolen has not been reported.
Police say that a bank employee’s car was taken from Rockland Trust after the robbery and abandoned shortly afterward at a nearby parking lot. Almost immediately after, police say, a blue Hyundai Elantra with a missing driver’s side hubcap left the same parking lot.
Surveillance video and witness statements put the Elantra at the parking lot scene, police say. The report states: “it was determined that the 2007 Hyundai Elantra was likely involved in the robbery.”
On Saturday, island police stopped a blue Elantra matching the car’s description, with a missing hubcap. Mr. Jones was driving the vehicle.
During the stop, police noticed a “green, vegetation like” material on his shoe that appeared similar to a material found on the floor of the abandoned employee's car.
He was asked about the Elantra and admitted to being in the parking lot where the robbers abandoned the employee’s car on Thursday morning.
Police also say that during a search warrant execution on the Elantra, they found three $100 dollar bills, two of which had sequential serial numbers. Also in the car was a pair of white Nike sneakers and dark clothing consistent with what robbers used at the Rockland Trust bank.
“Mr. Jones is not that man.”
Attorney Casey Dobel, representing Mr. Jones at the arraignment, called the police’s evidence “circumstantial.”
"People are looking for someone to blame,” Dobel said. “Mr. Jones is not that man"
Dobel said Jones has 3 children whom he supports, and that he coaches youth soccer and is himself a former pro soccer player for Jamaica. He said Jones is active in church and has no criminal record anywhere. He called Jones, “extremely motivated to fight his case.”
Jones works as a landscaper and listed an Edgartown address in court documents. He was born in Jamaica.
Police have made no allegations that Jones was present at Rockland Trust on the morning of the crime. No further arrests have been made, and police are continuing to investigate.
Bail for Jones was set at $300,000. A probable cause hearing is scheduled for Dec. 16.
The police report also offered new details about the robbery. The employees were bound with duct tape and plastic restraints, it said, and suspects were holding semi-automatic handguns. It is still unknown how much was taken.
