UPDATE: Police looking for restaurant customers to provide information on attempted armed robbery

UPDATE — Thursday, December 22nd, 2016 9:30 a.m. EST

Escanaba Public Safety officers say that customers at El Patron during the incident have notified their agency and will be cooperating in the investigation.

UPDATE — Wednesday, December 21st, 2016 9:50 a.m. EST

Escanaba Public Safety officers are trying to identify customers who were in the El Patron restaurant at the time of the attempted armed robbery incident on Monday morning. Officers are asking customers to come forward and make contact with detectives so more information can be gathered, no matter how minimal the patron feels their observations may have been.

You can contact Escanaba Public Safety by phone (906) 786-5911 or via private message on their Facebook page.

UPDATE — Tuesday, December 20th, 2016 2:45 P.M. EST

ESCANABA — The man involved in the attempted armed robbery has been arraigned.

The suspect has been identified as 21-year old Alejandro Castillo. Castillo has been arraigned on one count of intent to rob, which carries a life penalty and another count of a dangerous weapon, punishable of a felony up to five years. Castillo is also a fugitive from justice and will have a pre-trial conference on January 31st of next year.

Castillo is being held on a $500,000 cash bond or surety. His preliminary exam is scheduled for January 5th.

ESCANABA — A New Mexico man is in jail after restaurant employees thwarted an attempted armed robbery in Escanaba.

Escanaba Public Safety officers say the 21-year-old man was arrested after investigation into a report of a possible breaking and entering at the El Patron restaurant shortly before noon on Monday. According to officers, the suspect had entered the business through the back door while wearing a mask and gloves and brandishing a club. The man allegedly damaged property inside the restaurant as he attempted to reach the cash register. Employees at the restaurant were able to fight off the suspect until Public Safety arrived. The suspect exited the back of the business, and it’s there that he was met by police and taken into custody.

An air soft pistol that the suspect had tucked into his waistband and discarded along with the mask, gloves, and club were recovered at the scene. The suspect was transported to the Escanaba Public Safety office, where investigators found that he was also wanted in New Mexico for armed robbery. He was lodged at the Delta County Jail on a fugitive warrant, and a charge of attempted robbery is being sought through the Delta County Prosecutor’s Office.

Officers say investigation into potential additional crimes is ongoing. The man’s identity is being withheld pending his arraignment in Delta County District Court, which is expected to occur this afternoon.