Alleged Cosi robber arrested, charged

A suspect in December’s Cosi armed robbery on campus has been arrested and charged.

Ramon Martinez, 28, is currently charged in Pennsylvania with 18 counts of robbery for three separate instances that occurred at this and another Philadelphia Cosi restaurant. He is also a suspect in the January robbery of an IHOP in Burlington, New Jersey, Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said.

Arrest warrants have been issued for the other two suspects, Rush added.

Related: Cosi robbed at gunpoint

Police believe that the four robberies were related because they shared similar characteristics. All four occurred at gunpoint, and each of them took place at around 7 a.m. Additionally, the descriptions of the suspects from the four offenses matched, and the robbers sought cash in all four incidents.

Rush added the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office might become involved in the case due to legal issues that could arise from the three suspects allegedly robbing stores in two states.

The FBI could not be reached for a comment for this story.

Related: Related: Oven fire breaks out at Cosi

The first armed robbery in Philadelphia occurred on Dec. 3, when the Cosi cafe at 15th and Locust streets in Center City was robbed. The second robbery occurred on Dec. 9 at Penn’s Cosi, and prompted a UPennAlert at the time.

Then on Dec. 24, the Center City Cosi was robbed for the second time in less than a month. On Jan. 2, an IHOP in Burlington, New Jersey was robbed by the suspects who police believe committed all four robberies, according to Rush.

Martinez, who was arrested on Jan. 4, will next appear in court on Feb. 14 for a preliminary hearing.

Staff writer Cosette Gastelu contributed reporting.

Correction: The caption on the photo attached to this article has been updated to state the correct location of Cosi.

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