Lorain man indicted on robbery charges

A 25-year-old Lorain man was indicted by a Lorain County grand jury after police say he robbed a McDonald’s restaurant in Elyria.

Manuel A. Jimenez was indicted Dec. 22 on charges of aggravated robbery, two counts of robbery, tampering with evidence, obstructing official business and resisting arrest.

The robbery charges also carry two specifications — one for carrying a gun during the crime and the other for showing the gun during the crime, court records show.

The charges stem from a Nov. 13 incident at McDonald’s at the corner of Midway Boulevard and West River Road in Elyria, according to police.

Jimenez allegedly displayed a handgun to employees of the restaurant and took an undisclosed amount of money and fled, police said.

Officers were in pursuit and a short time later, caught Jiminez and arrested him. Detectives also recovered the money as well as a 45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, police said.

According to Elyria Municipal Court documents, Jimenez made no plea when he was arraigned before Municipal Court Judge Lisa A. Locke Graves on Nov. 14. He was given a $200,000 bond and held at the Lorain County Jail.

The following week at a preliminary hearing before Municipal Court Judge Gary C. Bennett, a condition was put on Jimenez’s bond stipulating he is to have no contact whatsoever with a female victim and to stay 1,000 feet away from the restaurant, according to court documents.

According to Lorain County Common Pleas Court records, at the time of the alleged robbery, Jimenez was on probation for a 2016 case in which he was pleaded guilty to charges of carrying concealed weapons and possession of drugs. As part of that case, Jimenez was entered into an intervention program.

Jimenez is currently at the Lorain County Jail. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges Dec. 28 in Lorain County Common Pleas Court.