DATE: Wednesday, July 9, 1997               TAG: 9707090427

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   42 lines

MECHANIC'S TATTOOS LEAD TO ARREST FOR '94 ROBBERY AN ALERT NEW JERSEY POLICE CAPTAIN SPOTTED MAN WANTED IN VIRGINIA BEACH.

Something about the new mechanic's face triggered Joaquin Martinez's memory. The New Jersey police captain had read the latest newsletter of a robbery clearinghouse just before leaving to check on the restoration work to his 1953 Ford pickup last week.

The mechanic, Martinez thought, looked like the same person featured in the newsletter as a robbery fugitive from Virginia Beach. Martinez noted the man's tattoos - initials on his hand and a cartoon character on his chest - and called Virginia Beach detectives.

Sure enough, the mechanic was the suspected robber.

The captain's sharp memory and chance encounter pushed a three-year-old case closer to a conclusion, said Virginia Beach Sgt. Tony Zucaro.

Authorities extradited the suspect, 20-year-old Juan Agosto, on Monday to Virginia Beach, where he is being held in jail without bail.

Agosto was wanted for the May 1994 robbery of a Cavalier Hotel clerk. The clerk was tied up and hit in the head with a gun.

After several months of investigation, police arrested one suspect but could not find Agosto, Zucaro said.

Zucaro presented the case at a meeting of the Eastern Armed Robbery Conference and included more details in the group's newsletter. The 600-member group regularly shares information on unsolved crimes.

Martinez, the police captain, said he thought the mechanic looked familiar when he checked on his antique truck.

``I saw the picture, and it looked a little younger than the guy because it goes back a couple of years,'' he said. ``But the more I looked at it, the more it resembled this guy.''

A sergeant from Martinez's department made the arrest once Beach police confirmed the mechanic was their suspect.

``It was all luck, really,'' Martinez said.

Agosto has been charged with armed robbery, abduction, conspiracy and assault.

``This shows that we will be tenacious in our endeavors to track these wanted fugitives,'' Zucaro said.

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