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Samuel McArthur (MUGSHOT: Wyckoff PD)
The employee went to a local bank to make a night deposit at 12:20 a.m. on Nov. 26, 2008 when he was confronted by two men, one of whom held a knife to his neck and snatched the bank bag he was holding, Fox said.
The victim was cut — and so, apparently, was 46-year-old Samuel McArthur, whose DNA matches that police found on a nearby street after the holdup, the chief said.
Wyckoff Police Detective Sgt. Joseph Soto “has spent the past several years periodically trying” fo find McArthur, whose last known address was in Paterson.
“The DNA information alone was insufficient for Sgt. Soto to issue a warrant for his arrest,” Fox said. “He needed to find this man and question him.”
Finally, a regular computer check pinpointed McArthur — in East Jersey State Prison in Rahway following a conviction last September for selling drugs on school property in Passaic.
Soto and Detective Sgt. Michael Musto went to the domed prison (which some may remember from the remake of “Ocean’s 11″ or the “Scared Straight” program) and McArthur.
He told the detectives he was “recruited by another individual who[m] he does not know in order to commit the robbery,” Fox said. “After they fled they left in a car parked on a nearby street, and … he was paid $280 of the $800 they stole.”
McArthur also said he cut himself on the hand opening the knife, accounting for the bloody glove, the chief added.
Soto charged him with 1st-degree robbery, using a weapon in the commission of a crime, and unlawful possession of a weapon. A detainer guarantees that he will face charges in Bergen County.
McArthur — who also has gone by the name Samuel “Sammy” Davis — comes up for parole in 18 months and could remain in state custody until August 2014, records show.
Fox praised Soto for his “tenacity in bringing this potentially violent crime to a conclusion of charges against someone responsible.
“He had a piece of the puzzle and he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he found who he was looking for.”
The chief also gave credit to all of the officers who collected the evidence and statements that Soto needed to begin making a case.
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