Man accused of numerous armed robberies detained by detective inside McDonald's

ROSENBERG, Texas – A man suspected of at least seven armed robberies was detained in the back of a McDonald's on Wednesday by a detective at the scene, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said.

The man, identified by investigators as Nikolas Reyes Garza, Jr., 23, of Rosenberg, rode his bicycle to a Travel Plaza in the 2800 block of U.S. 59 wearing a gray hoodie pulled over his head and black sweatpants; his face was covered with a black bandana, according to Sheriff Troy Nehls. 

“The audacity of this individual to come into Fort Bend County, commit one -- and just feel, 'Well I’m gonna commit a second, third, fourth or fifth',” Nehls said. “What, does he think I’m stupid?”

Nehls said Garza entered the store, pulled a knife on the staff and forced them to the back of a McDonald's, which is attached to the Travel Plaza. 

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Due to the string of robberies, Detective Scott Heinemeyer was already keeping watch outside the restaurant. Heinemeyer said Garza matched the description of the serial robber obtained from prior businesses that were hit.

“The dress, the blue surgical gloves, using a particular type of knife,” the detective said. “There’s also some things that he would say that were very similar in a lot of the robberies so it led us to believe it was the same individual.”

Heinemeyer entered the store armed with an AR-15 rifle and was able to apprehend Garza without injuries to himself or the staff, officials said. 

“He’s very fortunate he ran into Heinemeyer last night because who knows if he wouldn’t have been apprehended last night, maybe the next time it wouldn’t end up so peaceful,” Nehls said.

Garza was charged with one count of aggravated robbery. Investigators said he has admitted to at least six other previous robberies and additional charges are pending.