DALLAS — Police have arrested two men suspected in the killing of an armored truck guard in Dallas in September, police officials said.
Francisco Montez, 24, faces a charge of capital murder, according to a police news release. He was arrested Wednesday. A second suspect, 21-year-old Genaro Rivera, was arrested Wednesday, as well. Dallas police said Rivera was the driver of the vehicle involved.
An arrest affidavit obtained by WFAA revealed approximately $20,000 in cash seized from Rivera's car matched the bundles of cash designated for Big Jim's Check Cashing, where the robbery occurred. The deadly shooting of 52-year-old David Ruback happened on the morning of Sept. 1 outside of Big Jim's Check Cashing in the 100 block of South Carroll Avenue.
The owner said two people in all-black masks arrived in a small white car and got out with large guns. He said the robbers demanded money from Ruback, and when he refused, he was shot in the back.
Ruback was taken to the hospital where he later died, Dallas police said.
"I didn't know what to do. They fired six shots at the store where I was standing. And all the bullets went around me and hit him," the business owner told WFAA.
The suspects got away with the money, but the owner did not say how much.
"He spared my life because when he came in to get the bag, the guy pointed the gun at me and I said, 'Please don't kill me,'... and they took off," he added.
The check-cashing business has an extensive surveillance camera system, which investigators were combing through.
Police released these photos of the two suspects and the suspect vehicle:
The arrests come six weeks after Ruback was killed. During the investigation, police also noted in the affidavit that Montez and Rivera communicated several times through social media and direct cellphone contact. The communication between the two suspects described them "hitting a lick," which police identified as common terminology for committing a robbery.
His girlfriend, Terry Ball, said now she is leaning on the justice system.
“You just kind of wonder what goes through a 24-year-old’s head right before they pull that trigger,” Ball said. "You just wonder why. Was the money that worth it to you?”
“While I am so grateful for the arrest, it doesn’t bring him home," Ball continued. "So, the only thing I can hope is that he doesn’t get the chance to kill anybody else."
Ball told WFAA that Ruback loved motorcycles and bikes and eating competitions. She said he was a loving and loyal partner.
"I just wanted people to know the person he was," she said. "And what they’ve taken from us."
