Mesa Police Arrest Five Suspects In Connection With Robbery
Series
January 10, 2011
The Mesa Police Department arrested five suspects (4 adults and
1 juvenile) in connection with the series of robberies in the
east valley. This crime spree began Thursday, December 30, 2010
and ended January 7, 2011. In total, the suspects in this
investigation have been tied to twelve robberies in Mesa,
Gilbert and Chandler over the nine day period. In all of these
robberies, the suspect enters the business and asks the employee
if they can make change. When the suspect is told that he must
make a purchase for the register to open, he decides to purchase
an item. At this point, the suspect hands the victim a note
stating he wants all the money in the register and "this is not
a joke." The suspect also writes in the notes that he "needs to
feed his family and does not want to hurt anyone." It appeared
that two of the suspects, Nicholas Granata and Michael Divito,
were alternating committing the robberies; however, the method
of operation was identical in each of the crimes. Surveillance
photographs were obtained at several victimized businesses,
which showed the two different suspects. No weapons were ever
displayed or simulated in these robberies.
Detectives working these cases requested a media release be
published with surveillance photos and video of the suspects.
After receiving a tip about one of the suspects in the news
release, Mesa detectives began canvassing halfway and rehab
housing and were able to identify Granata as one of the
suspects. Surveillance was initiated on Granata immediately
pending additional efforts to tie Granata to the robberies. It
was discovered that Granata recently came to Arizona from Ohio
and detectives were able to obtain known fingerprints from Ohio
law enforcement. Mesa PD Forensic Services was able to quickly
match Granata's fingerprints from Ohio to latent prints obtained
from a note from one of the robberies in Mesa. While detectives
continued their surveillance of Granata, they observed him leave
a residence with two other subjects. They were followed to the
Knights Inn at 630 W. Main, where Granata was observed entering
the motel and contacting the clerk in the lobby. Shortly
thereafter, Granata ran from the motel to the waiting car in the
parking lot just west of the motel. Simultaneously, Mesa PD
Communications received a 911 call from the Knights Inn
reporting a robbery had occurred. Police were able to detain all
three suspects at this time without incident at a Quik Trip.
During in-custody interviews, Nicholas Granata made a full
confession to his involvement in the robberies and identified
the second robbery suspect as Michael Divito. The other two
suspects in the vehicle were detained and later charged with
conspiracy to commit robbery. Later that evening, Michael Divito
was located at the East Valley Addiction Council (EVAC) facility
in Mesa where he was taken into custody without incident. When
Divito was interviewed by detectives, he also made a full
confession as to his involvement in this series of robberies.
During Divito's interview, the fifth suspect was identified and
charged with conspiracy to commit robbery.
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 |
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| Bradley
Friend |
Michael
Divito |
Nicholas
Granata |
Jonathan
Frank |