Linden Police have charged an Edison man, 48-year-old Mervin R. Fitzgerald, in a December 31, 2012 robbery of the Payless Shoe Source, 1601 W. Edgar Rd., in the Linden Shopping Plaza. Fitzgerald was served with a copy of the arrest warrant earlier today while in the custody of the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Department on an unrelated charge. On December 31, 2012, Fitzgerald and an unidentified accomplice entered the store at approximately 8:00PM. After pulling out a handgun, they herded two female employees into a rear store room where they had their hands and legs bound with zip ties. One of the robbers was then able to access a store safe and stole $200.00 cash. The robbers then fled. The victims were discovered approximately 20 minutes after the robbers fled by a customer who entered the store and discovered them in the rear store room. They were not injured.
Investigating detectives recovered a glove left behind by one of the robbers, and along with other evidence, submitted the items to the Union County Crime Lab for analysis. In mid-March of this year, detectives received a DNA match on the glove. Detective David Kother resumed the investigation on the unsolved case, and after four weeks, was able to obtain an arrest warrant for Fitzgerald. The accomplice remains unidentified. Fitzgerald is being charged with robbery, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose. A warrant detainer was filed in Middlesex County with bail set at $200,000. He will be turned over to Linden authorities after a court appearance.