MARYSVILLE, Calif.-
A pair of armed robbers thought that wearing ghost masks would guard their identity. Instead, it led to their undoing, investigators say. A witness saw the ghosts run out the back door of the Best Buy Cigarettes store in rural Marysville the day before Halloween, watching as they jumped into a two-door Mazda sports car.
Yuba County sheriff’s deputies found the car, but the suspects–and their masks–were gone.
However, the robbers left behind the wrappers from the masks in the abandoned car. Investigators used bar codes on the wrappers to trace the masks to Wal-Mart, then found surveillance video of the men buying the masks.
“It’s a very interesting case,” Detective Brandt Lowe said of the unusual chain of evidence.
Alben Bonds, 24, of Linda, was arrested Monday for the Oct. 30 robbery, and police are looking for a 17-year-old boy they say was his accomplice.
Bonds is being held at Yuba County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail on suspicion of robbery, kidnapping and burglary.
