Prosecutor: Area Man Charged with 2017 Robbery of $700K from Check-Cashing Business

An area man has been arrested and charged with the 2017 robbery of $700,000 from a check-cashing business, Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced on Friday.

Travis A. Bryant, 41, of Jackson, has been charged in the incident with first-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, and fourth-degree possession of an imitation handgun. If convicted of the first-degree crime, he could face 10 to 20 years in prison.

The case background …

At approximately 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017West Long Branch police responded to the check-cashing business on Route 36 on a report of a silent alarm activation. There, officers found a lone employee, who said that a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt pulled tightly around his face and sunglasses had just robbed the store of a large quantity of cash.

It was determined that the man had entered the store when no customers were present and used a ladder to access and climb through ceiling ducts in order to access a secured, employees-only area of the business where cash was stored.

After falling through the ceiling, Bryant reportedly approached the store employee, indicating that he was in possession of a weapon, and ordered her into the store bathroom while he made off with her purse, cell phone, and approximately $700,000 in cash, driving away in a van.

A long-term investigation by West Long police and a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) resulted in Bryant being identified as a suspect in the case. He was arrested without incident yesterday and lodged in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) pending an initial appearance and detention hearing in Monmouth County Superior Court.

— Edited press release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office