Tulsa man back in jail months after prison release, accused in 2 armed robberies

A Tulsa man who got out of prison six months ago after serving nearly 10 years for armed robbery is back in jail, charged with robbing two people at gunpoint.

Investigators say Jerome Bonaparte robbed a man inside a grocery store, then pulled a gun on a nail salon owner days later and that time, fired off a shot.

Investigators say Bonaparte pulled a gun on both victims, demanded cash and said he would kill them if they didn't hand over the money.

May 2nd Robbery:

Investigators say the victim was in the checkout line at a dollar store near Admiral and Harvard and Bonaparte grabbed the victim's wallet, stole his cash, then pulled a gun and said "Back up and get on the ground or I will pop you." Investigators say Bonaparte had his girlfriend and a 15-year-old with him during the robbery.

Investigators say surveillance video shows Bonaparte then leaving the store carrying a gun. They say video also showed Bonaparte getting into a smaller SUV with his girlfriend and the child and leaving. They say that car led them to Bonaparte.

May 5th Robbery:

Investigators say that as they were investigating the first robbery, they got another report of a robbery outside a nail salon near 21st and Yale with the same suspect information.

"I read it and was like, 'Hey, this sounds real familiar.' Immediately, I let my guys know. They are already out working on it. They take a detour and go pull the video from the nail salon, sure enough the ball starts rolling," said Lieutenant Justin Ritter with the Tulsa Police Robbery Unit.

Ritter says surveillance video shows Bonaparte robbing the nail salon owner as he was getting into his car and Bonaparte threatened to kill the victim.

"For whatever reason during the robbery, he actually shoots a round into the ground. He gets back in the car and you can see that the same suspect vehicle is driven by a black female and there is a juvenile children in the back seat," said Ritter.

Ritter says they arrested Bonaparte at a pawn shop near downtown Tulsa.

"All of these are dangerous, but once we get one, first of all we figure out immediately that this is turning into a serial deal, this guy is clearly not going to stop, he's robbing random people of cash, and we see obviously he discharges his firearm, we don't like that."

Investigators say Bonaparte confessed to both robberies. Investigators say they decided not to arrest Bonaparte's girlfriend, even though she was with him in her car.

Bonaparte's Criminal History:

Records show Bonaparte has three previous convictions for armed robbery and about 10 years of a 12-year sentence.