Iowa City man arrested in connection with rash of robberies

IOWA CITY - An Iowa City man arrested last month after a pizzeria robbery has been charged in connection with nine more robberies in three communities.

All told, 26-year-old Martarius M. Junious faces 25 charges - nine counts of first-degree robbery and 16 counts of second-degree kidnapping - according to trial information filed Wednesday by the Johnson County Attorney's Office.

Junious and two other men were arrested in early November after a robbery and police said at the time they were hoping that arrest would lead to closing the book on several other unsolved robberies.

'We are excited about it,” said Iowa City Police Lt. Zach Diersen. 'It was something we put a lot of effort into and spent a lot of time on. I think we're able to pretty safely say these three young men that are in custody right now are responsible for almost all of our unsolved robberies over the last several months.”

Junious is accused of robbing:

- The Coralville Burger King on July 16.

- An Iowa City branch of the First American Bank on July 20.

- Culver's in Iowa City on July 23.

- Panchero's in Iowa City on July 25.

- McDonald's in Iowa City on Aug. 4.

- A second Iowa City McDonald's on Sept. 4.

- Panchero's in Coralville on Sept. 8.

- McDonald's in North Liberty on Oct. 9.

- A Kum & Go in Iowa City on Oct. 17.

Junious is one of three men arrested on Nov. 3 after an early morning robbery at Domino's Pizza in Iowa City. Police responded to a 911 call at the pizzeria at 2:40 a.m. and learned two men had entered the restaurant, pulled guns on the employees and demanded cash. The four victims handed over money and were then forced into a cooler in the store, police said.

The suspects fled and the employees provided a vehicle description that was put out to all area police departments. A North Liberty police officer spotted the suspect vehicle, attempted to pull over the driver and a chase ensued, police said.

The three men - Junious, 23-year-old Corey M. Lindsey and 26-year-old Keyshaun S. Hayes - got out of the vehicle near the Coral Ridge Mall and attempted to flee on foot. They were all captured.

Police said the men were carrying cash, a cash bag and other items belonging to Domino's. Two guns were also discovered along the route of the pursuit, police said.

All three men face four counts of first-degree robbery and second-degree kidnapping for the Domino's robbery.

According to separate trial information filed Wednesday, Lindsey also faces two counts of first-degree robbery and two counts of second-degree kidnapping for two separate robberies at Kum & Go convenience stories in Iowa City on Oct. 17.

Diersen said while police didn't have much success early on during the spate of robberies, investigators learned something new with each case.

'Every time you learn something new, you get another piece of the puzzle,” he said. 'We knew if these robberies continued, eventually good police work would intersect with them making a mistake and, ultimately, that's what happened.”

First-degree robbery and second-degree kidnapping are both Class B felonies punishable by up to 25 years.

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com