Man Jailed 15 Years For Store Heist Allegedly Robs Same Store Day After Release

A man who spent 15 years behind bars for robbing a shoe store allegedly returned to the scene of the crime.

One day after being released from prison, he allegedly robbed the same Stride Rite store in Toms River, N.J. that he held up in 1999.

The suspect according to multiple media accounts is Christopher M. Miller who got out of South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton on Friday and headed back to the identical store on Saturday. “Police say the 40-year-old took a bus from Atlantic City to the store — approximately 50 miles away — where he ordered its two employees to empty the register and hand over their cell phones.”

At about 4:30 pm on Saturday, Miller allegedly took $389 from the register and fled on foot with the cellphones and the store phone. The employees had refused to give him their car keys and were not tied up as in the original robbery.

Police arrested him a few blocks away and recovered the cash and phones at the shopping plaza with the help of a K9. The suspect faces a robbery charge and is currently in the Ocean County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

Miller reportedly committed several crimes in 1999, including the Stride Rite robbery, that led to his 15-year conviction. “Back in 1999, Miller was sentenced to 15 years in prison for three armed robberies in Toms River and Brick, as well as theft, criminal restraint, and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, authorities said at the time. The incidents included the attempted robbery in November 1999 of the Stride Rite, the robbery of a Carvel on Drum Point Road in Brick and a robbery and at the Payless Shoe Store at routes 9 and 571 in Toms River.”

Police indicated they are looking into whether the Tulsa, Okla., native has any “residential connection” to Toms River.

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