Boys Suspected of Robbing Home Gardens Biz, Possibly Other Locations

HOME GARDENS (CNS) – Two boys suspected of robbing a Home Gardens business may be the same suspects involved in additional holdups in Riverside, authorities said Thursday.

The youths, whose names and ages were not disclosed, were arrested about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on suspicion of armed robbery and booked into Riverside Juvenile Hall.

According to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Brandon Miller, the holdup occurred at a convenience store in the 3800 block of McKinley Street in Home Gardens, where a clerk was confronted by a suspect in a hooded sweatshirt and wearing a blue surgical mask to conceal his identity.

Miller said that the bandit brandished a handgun and ordered the victim to empty the cash register, which he did.

“The suspect fled the store and was seen entering a waiting black SUV,” the sergeant said. “With the assistance of the Riverside Police Department’s Air-1 (helicopter crew), the suspect vehicle was located in the area of Cajalco Expressway and Brown Street, in Mead Valley.”

The suspect armed with the gun and the teenage driver of the SUV were both taken into custody without incident following a traffic stop, according to Miller.

“Additional evidence at the scene was located possibly connecting both suspects with two other armed robberies that occurred at businesses … in the 3800 block of Pierce Street and 1100 block of University Avenue, in Riverside,” he said.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the sheriff’s Lake Mathews station at 951-272-5600, or the Riverside Police Department at 951-353- 7135.

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