Nebraska Man Accused Of Robbing 3 People At Gunpoint In Butte County

BUTTE COUNTY (CBS13) — Detectives arrested a Nebraska man Wednesday accused of robbing three people at gunpoint in Butte County in mid-January.

The Butte County Sheriff's Office said Robert Johnson, 36, of Nebraska, was booked into the county jail on three counts of robbery and three counts of kidnapping.

Butte County deputies received reports on Jan. 13 of a robbery in Forest Ranch. Investigators found that four suspects entered a residence and held three victims at gunpoint before bounding them with duct tape. After the suspects left the residence, one of the victims was able to get free and contact 911.

Investigators determined that the suspects took large amounts of money and marijuana from the residence. The sheriff's office said detectives gained information from a follow-up with one of the victims that connected Johnson to the robbery.

The victim told law enforcement that they were recently in contact with a man, Johnson, from the Midwest regarding a marijuana transaction.

Detectives found through surveillance video that Johnson traveled from the Midwest to the Reno airport and rented a vehicle the day before the robbery. Detectives said they obtained a search warrant, located the rental vehicle and found evidence that determined Johnson planned the robbery.

The sheriff's office said follow-up interviews concluded Johnson was involved in a drug trafficking organization, in which those involved fly to California to obtain marijuana and use rental cars to move it back to Nebraska.

While a search for Johnson was now underway, authorities found that he had rented a car from the San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday morning and was possibly driving to Butte or Nevada counties to commit another robbery.

Johnson was located on Highway 80 in Placer County at around 12:40 in the afternoon and pulled over by deputies. Authorities detained both Johnson and a second male from Nebraska who was in the car. The second individual was interviewed and released, deputies said.

Law enforcement located approximately $28,000 in cash and cell phones. Butte County detectives responded to Placer County to take custody of Johnson.

The Butte County Sheriff's Office said Johnson is registered as a sex offender in Nebraska and officials are looking into whether Johnson's trips to California were in violation of the Nebraska Sex Registration Act.