Knife-wielding suspect in Super 8 robbery try that went viral arrested

The knife-wielding suspect in November 2015 surveillance image; inset, suspect Ryan Harris

SANFORD - After almost a yearlong investigation into a case that received national media attention, a Sanford man has been arrested in the knife-wielding attempted armed robbery of a Sanford motel.
Ryan J. Harris, 28, was taken into custody on Friday on robbery charges and is being held at York County Jail on $25,000 bail.
The November 2015 robbery of the Super 8 Motel - complete with compelling video images of a man threatening the motel clerk - went viral on social media and led to its being featured on the former Nancy Grace Show on HLN network.
The robbery occurred on Nov. 24 around 8:25 p.m. when the suspect, described as a white male armed with a knife, entered the motel and demanded money from the clerk. When the attempt failed he fled the area on foot. Following the release of surveillance video, which went viral, the case received national notoriety.
Shortly after the robbery police were seeking out a woman who they thought may have had a confrontation with the suspect in a Walmart parking lot just prior to his attempting to rob the motel.
During the motel incident, the clerk appears to calmly refuse to cooperate despite the suspect wielding a knife. When the suspect tries to grab a laptop off the inside counter, she wrestles it away and appears to begin dialing a number on her cellphone. Then she walks out of frame which is when she presumably locked herself in a backroom. The suspect fled from the area on foot.
To see the video of the attempted robbery click here.