SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The St. Joseph County Police Department announced a 22-year-old suspect was arrested on Thursday following a joint operation by local, state, and federal law enforcement.

The suspect, identified as Lucas Conner Jr., was wanted out of La Porte County for charges related to Armed Robbery and Criminal Confinement, stemming from an incident on March 29, 2024.

Conner was located in the 100 block of N. Le Boulevard De La Paix in South Bend.

Court documents state on March 29, 2024, La Porte police responded to a hold-up alarm at Advance America Cash Advance at 1114 S.R. 2. Dispatch then notified them an armed robbery had occurred.

Officers spoke to the branch manager who informed them a vehicle had pulled up and the driver continuously looked in at her.

The manager told police the driver then exited the vehicle and ran inside, pistol in hand. She told police the man began yelling, "Where's the money at, where's the money at?"

At this point the vehicle's passenger entered with a pistol in hand. Documents state the driver jumped over the counter and pointed the gun at the manager and demanded she open the cash register.

The manager opened the drawer and gave the driver the money. The driver demanded more, and the manager told him there weas more in back.

The manager was held at gunpoint while she retrieved the rest of the money. The suspects stole $1,943.65 before fleeing east on S.R. 2 in the sedan.

The manager described the suspects to police and stated they both wore masks, gloves, and had black handguns. The manager also told police there was a suspicious man in the business on the previous day and thought he could be connected to the robbery.

The manager described the man and Advance America later provided video footage of this subject, and his vehicle.

Police retrieved surveillance footage from surrounding businesses which showed the robbery vehicle to be a older Ford Taurus, gold in color. Police were called to the area of 505 L St. nearby around 3:45 p.m. for an idling abandoned gold Ford Taurus.

It matched the suspect vehicle and was later towed, Police then found the owner of the vehicle who told them, "I know the person that has been driving the vehicle, and I have nothing to do with it."

Police say they asked the car's owner to give a statement after being informed her car was used in a serious crime. Police say she responded with, "I'm snitching on everybody."

The owner told police she had given her vehicle to 23-year-old Xavier Cooper in August 2023, and the last time she talked to him was the Friday the robbery occurred.

The owner told police she had texted Cooper asking him what was going on with her car, to which he responded the car had broken down in Elkhart. She believed him to be lying.

She then told police she didn’t know who the second suspect was, but Cooper has one friend he's always with who goes by the name "Lul Glow" on Facebook, who was later identified as Conner.

Security surveillance footage as well as Flock hits of the suspect vehicle were retrieved and throughout the videos it was discovered that a Gray Chevrolet Malibu had been traveling directly behind the suspect vehicle during this route.

The malibu was found to belong to Dana Minies Jr. of South Bend.

Minies was then identified as the "suspicious" man who had been at the Advance America the day before the robbery.

On Nov. 6, 2024, Minies was interviewed at Allen County Jail where he was being held on multiple homicide charges.

After signing an advisement of rights waiver and still wishing to speak with police, he identified himself as the "suspicious" man in the still image.

Documents state he admitted to picking up Cooper and Conner after they ditched Taurus the alley following the armed robbery. Minies stated the two men had pistols, a bank bag, and coin rolls when he picked them up.

Minies told police he then drove the two to O'Brien Street in South Bend.