The breakdown:
- Two men, Martell Laron Franklin, 33, and Devonte Jaier Ross, 32, are accused of robbing a Canton Township Wingstop at gunpoint on Sept. 29.
- Surveillance allegedly showed Ross holding employees at gunpoint while Franklin helped collect cash and other items.
- Investigators used Franklin’s GPS tether, vehicle-camera data, surveillance footage and discarded clothing to identify and locate him.
- Franklin and Ross face federal Hobbs Act robbery and firearm charges.
- Both are scheduled for detention hearings Oct. 7.
A GPS tether, surveillance footage and discarded clothing helped investigators quickly identify two men accused of an armed robbery at a Canton Wingstop, federal investigators said. One man allegedly held employees at gunpoint while another helped collect cash and other items before the pair ran off through the back door.
A criminal complaint filed Oct. 2 identifies the suspects as Martell Laron Franklin, 33, and Devonte Jaier Ross, 32. Both are accused of Hobbs Act robbery and possessing a firearm during a crime.
A Canton Township police officer assigned to the FBI Detroit Violent Crimes Task Force said police were called to a Wingstop on Ford Road around 1:40 a.m. Sept. 29th for an armed robbery in progress.
Dispatchers described the suspects as “two black males wearing masks, dark clothing, and armed with firearms.” The suspects reportedly ran from the restaurant after an employee chased them through a back door. Police said they may have gone toward the nearby Cambridge apartments.
Investigators later reviewed surveillance video from inside and outside the restaurant.
What did surveillance allegedly show?
Investigators said Ross went into the restaurant at 1:40 a.m. wearing a dark hooded jacket or sweatshirt, dark pants with two vertical stripes, a dark face covering and light-colored shoes with dark accents.
Ross allegedly approached the counter before pointing a gun at employees as he walked around the counter toward the kitchen.
Employees ran toward the back of the restaurant as Ross followed them, according to the complaint. One or more employees tripped while trying to get away.
The feds said a second man, Franklin, then came into the restaurant wearing a lighter-colored, possibly gray, hooded sweatshirt with a logo on the front, a dark beanie, dark pants and shoes with black-and-white accents.
Franklin allegedly walked “purposefully toward the back of the restaurant” as Ross continued pointing the gun at employees.
Ross allegedly held one employee at gunpoint while another opened the restaurant’s safe. Franklin then went to a storage area through a side door, pulled out a bag and helped Ross load it with cash and other items, the feds said.
Franklin left the restaurant carrying the bag, but as he left, dropped what appeared to be “a tire iron, pipe, or similar instrument,” the complaint said. The two men then ran off through a back door.
Franklin tracked using his tether, feds say
Investigators said as police surrounded the Wingstop and the Cambridge apartments, they saw a silver Buick LeSabre with two people inside leaving the area. Officers did not stop the vehicle because they said they did not yet know whether it was connected to the robbery.
Police said they quickly learned the Buick was registered to Franklin’s brother.
Investigators said they used a Michigan Department of Corrections tether search for the Wingstop address and came up with one result: Laron Franklin.
Law enforcement databases identified Laron Franklin as an alias used by Martell Laron Franklin. Other aliases included Martell Jorden Franklin and Laron Martel Franklin, the feds said.
A Flock camera search allegedly showed that the car’s locations and times were consistent with Franklin’s tether data, showing Franklin was likely in the Buick.
Court records show Franklin has a criminal history including retail fraud, assault, assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, felony firearm, sexual assault and assault on a prison employee.
Records also show Franklin was discharged from parole but received a lifetime tether.
Investigators said they later found clothing and other items in areas where Franklin’s tether had been tracked after the robbery, the complaint said.
Then, around noon Sept. 29th, officers said they found a gray sweatshirt with a blue logo and a blue hat in a wooded area near the Wingstop, matching the one Franklin was seen wearing on video. When officers picked up the hat, they found gloves and two face masks inside, the feds said.
Franklin’s tether data also placed him near Elmhurst and Cloverdale, where police said they found black latex gloves and two white Huntington Bank deposit envelopes. Inside the envelopes were multiple Wingstop receipts dated two days before the robbery with the names of employees at the restaurant, the complaint said.
The feds said surveillance video also showed Franklin and Ross “loitering around the same area during the same general times.”
Franklin was arrested shortly after 1:15 p.m. Sept. 29 near the silver Buick LeSabre.
Ross tracked using Franklin’s tether data, feds say
Investigators said they also used Franklin’s tether data to track his movements before the robbery and found Ross.
Franklin reportedly stopped at Detroit Edge, a transitional housing facility on Grand River in Detroit, and then drove toward Canton.
Police said GPS data also placed Franklin at a gas station on Joy Road. Surveillance video allegedly showed the Buick entering the gas station parking lot at the same time.
Detectives said they reviewed surveillance video from Detroit Edge and said the footage showed a person walking through the facility’s hallways after midnight wearing the same clothing as the passenger seen at the gas station.
Employees identified the person as Devonte Ross and confirmed that the person seen in the video was Ross, the feds said.
Ross is on parole for armed robbery, felony firearm and carjacking, the feds said. He was arrested just before 11 p.m. Sept. 29 with $288 in his pockets. Both men are scheduled for a Detention hearing on Oct. 7 at 1:00 p.m. in Detroit.
