AUSTIN, Texas — Austin police arrested a man less than two minutes after officers were alerted to a downtown bank robbery, police said.
Makiya Johnson, 26, was booked into the Travis County Jail on two charges of robbery by threat.
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Officers responded at 4:44 p.m. Tuesday to a Wells Fargo bank at 111 Congress Ave. Police said a man approached bank employees saying he wanted to open an account. He then handed an employee a note demanding money and saying he had a bomb.
He got an undisclosed amount of cash and left on foot.
Officer Jason Yoon, who was working an extra shift downtown, arrived in the area about a minute after the call, Detective Alexandra Parker said at the news conference Thursday.
He found Johnson less than two blocks from the bank, 1 minute and 54 seconds after the robbery call went out over the radio, police said. Yoon recognized him from the description that was broadcast.
“That timeline is significant,” Parker said. “Officer Yoon received the information, responded to the area, recognized the individual matching the description, and he took immediate action.”
Video released by police shows the officer pull up in a cart and use a Taser on Johnson, who falls into the road. The officer orders him to put his hands behind his back and not move.
“Money is on the ground,” the officer says in the video.
Other officers secured the bank, recovered evidence and spoke with witnesses.
Johnson was also wanted on a warrant in a separate aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon case on Oct. 10 in a neighboring jurisdiction, police said. Police said he may face more charges.
Parker said Johnson recently moved to Austin and has several previous felony convictions, including robbery.
Anyone with information can call the Austin Police Department’s robbery unit at 512-974-5092. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Capital Area Crime Stoppers at austincrimestoppers.org or 512-472-8477.