District Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges in Brazen Robbery of Convenience Store ATM

Defendant and Accomplices Used Pick-Up Truck to Smash Through Storefront and Haul Off the ATM

            WASHINGTON – Arnold Boon, 33, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to federal charges stemming from a robbery in which he and at least two others drove a stolen pick-up truck through the front of a Northwest Washington convenience store and hauled off an ATM machine containing at least $130,000.

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

           Boon pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of interference with interstate commerce by robbery.  The plea, which is contingent upon the Court’s approval, calls for a sentence of 92 months in prison, to be followed by up to five years of supervised release. The Honorable Senior Judge Paul L. Friedman scheduled sentencing for May 2, 2019. The plea agreement also requires Boon to pay restitution to the owner of the money stolen from the ATM, as well as to the owner of the building where the store is located.

            According to the government’s evidence, on Jan. 19, 2018, at approximately 1:30 a.m., a stolen Ford pickup truck smashed through the front of a 7-Eleven convenience store in the 200 block of Cedar Street NW. The truck was being driven by an unidentified male wearing dark clothing and a mask. Surveillance video captured two other masked men, one later identified as Boon through DNA evidence, entering the convenience store and lifting the store’s ATM machine onto the bed of the truck.  While Boon and the other suspects attempted to lift the ATM machine, video from the store captured a gold watch worn by Boon fall to the ground.

            A store clerk and at least one customer were inside the store at the time of the robbery. After struggling for several minutes to lift the ATM onto the truck, the men successfully loaded it onto the truck’s bed and Boon climbed onto the bed of the truck while the other two suspects entered the cab of the vehicle and fled the area.  Boon and the other suspects fled with more than $130,000 in cash that was inside the ATM.

            The stolen vehicle was found idling a short distance from the location of the 7-Eleven with no occupants or the ATM machine.  The next morning, the stolen ATM machine was recovered by police in a wooded area in Washington, D.C., with all the currency removed.

            Police also recovered the gold watch at the crime scene, and DNA obtained from the watch eventually was matched to Boon.  At the time of his arrest on March 17, 2018, Boon was in possession of a loaded semi-automatic pistol, which was recovered from the dresser drawer in his bedroom. Boon has been in custody since his arrest. At the time of the crime, he was barred from possessing a gun because of prior convictions on assault and other charges.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Liu, Assistant Director in Charge McNamara, and Chief Newsham commended the work of the FBI agents and MPD officers who investigated the case. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven B. Wasserman and Ethan Carroll, and Paralegal Specialist Rommel Pachoca.