News Flash

A dinnertime thief who grabbed the cash register drawer from a sandwich shop and ran from the restaurant saw his burglary attempt come to a quick end March 13 when he was chased down by one of the restaurant’s customers and a restaurant employee.

Jacob David Ceballos, 18, of Roswell, is charged with burglary after his failed dash with stolen cash that totaled a little more than $100.

Investigation by Roswell Police Department officers and a detective determined Wednesday’s incident began shortly after 5:30 p.m. when Ceballos – wearing a hooded jacket, hat and glasses, and trying to partially cover his face with the jacket or other cloth –  walked into the Subway restaurant in the 1700 block of West Second Street. Within a few minutes, Ceballos went through a door marked “Employees Only” to gain access to the area behind the counter where two employees were taking sandwich orders from a group of three customers – a man, his wife and his sister.

Ceballos (pictured) walked up to the cash register and removed its cash drawer containing money. He then fled the building through a rear door, leaving the employees and customers momentarily stunned.

However, the two employees, ages 17 and 18, and the 24-year-old male customer then ran out of the restaurant to try to find the thief. When they could not immediately locate him as they looked on foot, one of the employees returned to the store to wait for police while the other employee and the customer got into the customer’s vehicle to look for the thief.

They spotted Ceballos just a few blocks away in an alley where he was removing the cash from the drawer and discarding the drawer. They then saw him jump over some bushes into the front yard of a house in the 1300 block of West Third Street. His jump caused him and the stolen money to fall to the ground. The customer exited his vehicle and grabbed Ceballos as he was picking up the money. The customer held Ceballos there until police arrived.

Ceballos was booked into the Chaves County Detention Center on a charge of burglary.