Ramon Noel Escobedo, of Hammond, was asleep on a couch Tuesday at his White Oak Avenue home when Hammond detectives, in chasing down leads, knocked on the front door, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Lake Criminal Court. 

He was taken into custody and his vehicle was towed, records show. He faces one count of armed robbery, a level 3 felony. 

A store employee told detectives a man, later identified as Escobedo, entered the store that day and shopped around with a cart. When he reached the front register, he placed several items on the counter and returned the cart near the front door. 

As the female employee scanned selected merchandise, Escobedo pulled "what appeared to be a (black handgun) from the right outside pocket of (his) sweatshirt and pointed the handgun" at the woman, records show. 

The employee gave Escobedo money from the register and he fled in a blue Four Taurus. 

Witnesses said they recognized Escobedo in surveillance video as a former Morton High School student, which led police to his home later in the day, records show.

When police arrived, Escobedo initially denied involvement and said he had "been home all day," records show. 

He admitted to being the owner of the blue Ford Taurus parked outside the home. The car keys were on the floor next to the couch where Escobedo had been sleeping, police said.

Escobedo has a number of felony convictions dating back to 2003, including for drug possession, theft, forgery and burglary, records show. 

Escobedo had been out on bond for pending traffic cases. 

He was ordered held at the Lake County Jail without bond. 

Recent arrests booked into Lake county Jail