Gang Member Charged with Robbing Coachella Store

A 21-year-old probationer accused of holding up a Coachella store was charged Monday with armed robbery. Daniel Magana Flores of Coachella, who was arrested Thursday, also is charged with probation violations and illegal possession of a firearm. He pleaded not guilty before Superior Court Judge Harold Hopp, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Oct. 30 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Flores is being held in lieu of $105,000 bail at the Indio Jail. Last Wednesday night, Flores allegedly went into a store in the 48-000 block of Grapefruit Boulevard, just off of Highway 111, brandished a pistol at the clerk and demanded that he empty the cash register, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Heredia, The defendant, a documented gang member, then fled the location with the cash, eluding deputies who arrived moments later, Heredia alleged. Anti-gang investigators quickly identified the defendant as the alleged bandit, and an arrest warrant was served at his apartment on Cesar Chavez Street the following afternoon, at which point Flores was taken into custody without a struggle, according to the sergeant. Court records show Flores has a prior misdemeanor conviction for driving under the influence.