Suspect charged in Williamsburg armed robberies

Police have arrested Ryan Jack Randles, 36, no permanent address, in connection to two armed robberies in Williamsburg. Randles was arrested at a Des Moines hotel at 8:20 p.m. Thursday.

Randles was charged with two counts of Robbery in the 2nd degree, Theft in the 5th degree and Theft in the 2nd degree.

Officers discovered that Randles had left Williamsburg in a vehicle belonging to the person he had been staying with for the last few weeks. A nationwide alert was put out for the vehicle, which was discovered on Thursday afternoon at a hotel in West Des Moines.

When arrested, Randles had money in his possession that is believed to have come from the two robberies.

The first robbery took place at the Best Western on Tuesday night. Police also believe he is responsible for another robbery that took place at around 1:00 p.m. Wednesday at Keokuk County State Bank. Police said the suspect showed a handgun and got away with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Randles is being held at the Polk County jail on warrants from several Polk county agencies.