Three arrested in two-county robbery spree

Three men who police believe mugged several people with a knife and a baseball bat were arrested in Rialto, according to the Rialto Police Department.

Mark Fernandez, 18, of San Bernardino, Jeffrey Henriquez, 18, of Los Angeles, and Roberto Morales, 18, also of Los Angeles, were arrested on suspicion of robbery and booked into the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

The robbery spree started at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, when two men wielding a bat and a knife approached a 23-year-old Monrovia resident walking on Eucla Avenue near Arrow Highway in San Dimas and demanded his cellphone and a backpack containing a laptop computer, according to a Rialto police news release.

The man handed over the goods and the muggers left in a white Scion XB.

A second robbery was reported at 10:33 p.m. at the Ralphs at 2008 North Riverside Ave. in Rialto, where three men forced a 70-year-old man into a Scion and robbed him of his valuables, including his wedding ring. The bandits fled and the Rialto police kicked off an “extensive” search using ground patrols and aircraft.

About 10 minutes later, three suspects pulled up to a Farmer Boys restaurant at 1310 West Base Line in Rialto in a white Scion XB and robbed another man at knifepoint, according to the release.

The first victim worked with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies using a software program that tracked his property in the Fontana-Rialto area. Fontana and Rialto law enforcement joined the hunt, and with the victim’s help, they tracked the robbers to a gas station at Cedar Avenue and Foothill Boulevard.

Read Full Article by Peter Surowski