A former University of Kentucky walk-on football player was arrested on charges of robbing four businesses, including two Plant City convenience stores.
Chad Michael Merida, 22, was arrest on charges of robbing a Tampa PNC Bank branch and Plant City convenience store Circle K Nov. 24. He also confessed to the Nov. 20 robbery of Plant City convenience store Marathon and a Nov. 16 robbery of a Tampa GameStop, according to a police report.
On Nov. 24 at about 3 p.m., Merida entered the PNC armed with a pellet gun and wearing a black mask with a spider web design, gloves and a blue Florida Gators hoodie. After demanding the tellers to give him money, he left the building and removed his mask. A witness saw the unmasked defendant quickly walking out of the bank in a suspicious manner. Through the investigation it was determined he lived in The Element Luxury Apartments in downtown Tampa.
Officers searched his 10th floor apartment and found the Gators hoodie, the gloves and the pellet gun in an outside trash can. The money was located in the trash can of the 10th floor restroom. He admitted to the robbery and to the previous GameStop robbery, according to the report.
During the investigation, a Tampa Police Department detective noticed that the clothing Merida was wearing during the PNC robbery matched the clothing on surveillance
camera footage from the Circle K robbery in Plant City earlier that day.
He also confessed to the Circle K robbery and the previous Marathon robbery.
Local agencies are working with police agencies in Kentucky to determine if he had played a part in previous robberies around his former residence.
