GREENE COUNTY, Mo. – A man has been arrested in the armed robbery of Hood’s Truck stop on June 8.
Bruce Wayne Vonier has been charged with 1st-degree robbery and armed criminal action.
According to the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, Vonier demanded money from the safe at gunpoint at Hood’s Truck Stop Thursday morning and stole employees’ cell phones before fleeing in his car.
Investigators used one of the employee’s “Find my Phone” apps to track Vonier movements and later found the cell phones in a rural area in Lawrence County, according to the PC Statement.
An individual contacted police and identified the robbery suspect as Vonier and said the vehicle used in the robbery belonged to her. She provided investigators with a home address for Vonier in Verona.
A search warrant was executed on the house, and investigators found Vonier as well as a neighbor.
The neighbor told investigators he had seen Vonier that morning driving around in his car and they talked for a while. The neighbor said that Vonier called him that evening, asking him to come over and “look at something.”
When the neighbor arrived, Vonier showed him the photo authorities had released of the robbery suspect. He told Vonier that if it wasn’t him in the picture then he must have a twin.
The neighbor told investigators that he recognized the cowboy hat of the robbery suspect and that Vonier rarely wears hats.
Vonier is being held without bond at the Greene County Jail.