Robbery suspect arrested in '06

A man accused of robbing six Omaha businesses over five days once was found not guilty of robbing and stabbing a man by reason of insanity.

In that case, Charles H. Scott was sent to the Lincoln Regional Center for several months of treatment.

Scott, 40, is expected to be in court Thursday afternoon in connection with the six Omaha robberies. He was arrested Monday night, about an hour after Goodies Food Shop, 2475 N. 90th St., was robbed.

In 2006, Scott was accused of robbing and stabbing a man. Douglas County District Judge Patrick Mullen found Scott not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered him to the Lincoln Regional Center, said Michael Jensen, a deputy Douglas County attorney.

Jensen said that after several months, Scott was transferred from the Lincoln facility to the care of Catholic Charities in Omaha. No information was immediately available about when Scott left the care of Catholic Charities.

Monday, police arrested Scott with the help of tips from the public and surveillance video and images from several of the businesses that Scott is accused of robbing. The six robberies took place from Thursday to Monday evening.

One of the videos came from Tobacco Road at 1414 S. Saddle Creek Road. The owner of the store, Tara Pokharel, said he had new equipment installed there about two years ago. He is now considering adding more cameras to the outside of the store.

Pokharel said he wishes he could keep the business open later and also stay safe. He said his store used to be open until midnight. Because he worries about crime, Pokharel now closes at 10 p.m. That hasn't kept the store from being robbed, though.

Tobacco Road was robbed about 9 a.m. Saturday, one of six robberies since Thursday that police say were the work of Scott, of 4534 Jaynes St.

Scott also was arrested in connection with the following robberies: Buchanan's service station, 5001 Dodge St.; Kum & Go, 12011 Blondo St.; Walgreens, 9001 Blondo St.; and a Sinclair gas station, 8242 Maple St. Police said Scott also was under investigation in connection with a robbery that occurred Saturday.

Overall, robberies are up in Omaha compared with the same period last year. Through August, there were 576 robberies, compared with 550 through the same time last year, about a 4.7 percent increase. There were a total of 949 robberies last year, compared with 818 in 2007 and 848 in 2006.

In seeking the public’s help to solve the string of robberies, police used video and images from the surveillance system at Tobacco Road.
Pokharel, 50, said he was thankful that someone was arrested in connection with the Tobacco Road robbery.

Saturday was the first time the store was robbed this year. Pokharel said it was robbed three times last year. After attending a workshop by Omaha police to help businesses prevent robberies, Pokharel made some changes.

For example, the large windows are now free of advertising clutter so clerks can see who is approaching store and passers-by can see in.
Pokharel also came up with ideas of his own. Just a couple of weeks ago, he had a big wooden box built around his cash register.
Two men attempted to rob the store in early January but weren’t successful.