<p>A Franklin man has been arrested for the robbery of a downtown Franklin gas station that occurred more than two years ago.</p>
<p>Christian Joseph Dickmann, 24, was arrested Thursday for robbing the Admiral Gas Station on Jefferson Street in 2017.</p>
<p>Franklin police had been investigating the robbery, but received a break when a woman came forward earlier this year identifying Dickmann from 18-month-old surveillance photos released at the time of the crime.</p>
<p>The robbery downtown happened just after 5 a.m. on Sept. 18, 2017. Police said Dickmann came into the gas station with a knife and demanded money. When Dickmann reached for the cash drawer, the clerk at the gas station tried to grab his hand, sustaining a cut on his right hand in the process, according to a Franklin Police Department report.</p>
<p>After he got cash, he dropped the knife and ran from the scene, police said.</p>
<p>The knife was sent to the State Police Lab for testing and the test came back positive for the clerk’s DNA as well as the DNA of an unidentified person, according to a report from the Franklin Police Department.</p>
<p>At the time, Franklin Police released security photos of the robbery suspect and asked the public to help identify him based on the pictures.</p>
<p>In March 2019, a woman told police she recognized Dickmann from surveillance photos. She said she had graduated high school with him and he had recently enlisted in the armed services, the report said.</p>
<p>Several of Dickmann’s family members were shown the surveillance photos and they all identified Dickmann in the photos, according to the report.</p>
<p>Dickmann was arrested on a traffic offense in July and police were able to get a DNA swab. The swab was tested and the Indiana State Police lab concluded that Dickmann’s DNA was on the knife used during the robbery, the report said.</p>
<p>A Shelbyville Police Department SWAT team arrested Dickmann, 970 Youngs Creek Drive, and took him to the Johnson County jail, where he is held on $16,000 bond.</p>
