ARMED ROBBERY

• Location: 9310 Kearny Mesa Road
• Time/Date: 12:30 p.m. on 1/30/05

Investigation: I was dispatched to the Best Western Motel on an armed robbery that had just occurred. The radio message said the suspects were three black males, wearing black ski masks, coveralls and gloves.

When I arrived, I met the clerk, Jamie. She was working alone behind the counter when the suspects entered the lobby. She was visibly upset. She saw a white four-door vehicle drive into the lot [and] saw three suspects exit this vehicle at once...the suspects entered the lobby and jumped over the counter. All three suspects were carrying small, flat, black handguns [and] yelled, “Give me the money!”

Suspect #1 pointed his gun at Jamie and told her to get down on her knees. Suspect #1 ordered Jamie to open the cash drawer. Suspect #1 removed the cash drawer and handed it off to Suspect #2. Suspect #2 carried this cash drawer outside to their car. Suspect #1...asked where the “vault” was. She opened the cabinet under the front counter. He ordered her to give him the key. Suspect #1 attempted to lift the safe but it appeared to be too heavy for him. Suspect #3 picked up the safe, stepped over the counter door and walked outside to their car.

Suspect #1 started to disconnect the telephone and computer lines. He asked Jamie where her cell phone was. She told him she didn’t have a cell phone. He demanded her money. Jamie handed him her purse. He removed her wallet and took all her money, about $50 in cash. Suspect #1...disconnected the computer monitor on the counter and took it to the car.

Evidence: There was no video camera. All three suspects were wearing gloves. I took five Polaroid photographs of the crime scene.

ARMED ROBBERY

• Location: 700 North Johnson Avenue, El Cajon
• Time/Date: 1:11 p.m. on 2/1/05

Résumé of Incident: A Hispanic male walks into Bootworld and asks to see several pairs of boots. He then approaches the register area where there is a female clerk working. The suspect displays a handgun and tells the clerk he is robbing the store. The manager walks up to the clerk, and the clerk, using store code, tells the manager that the store is being robbed. The manager throws a box at the suspect, who subsequently points the gun at the clerks. The suspect takes the box of boots and runs out of the store, being followed by the manager. The suspect runs several hundred yards with the manager following and witnesses calling the police to update their location. At the intersection of Jackman and Petree, the suspect hops a wall dropping the box of boots. He then turns the gun towards the manager and fires a single round. The manager stops chasing the suspect, retrieves the boots and called 911 from his cellular phone. Police move into the area, setting up a perimeter where the suspect was last seen. The suspect is found hiding in an exterior utility closet of a nearby business. He is taken into custody without incident, still in possession of the gun, which is determined to be a BB gun.

POSSESSION OF STOLEN PROPERTY

• Location: [800] Vale View Drive, Vista
• Time/Date: 2:39 p.m. on 2/3/05

Report: Deputies from the Vista Sheriff’s Station received a radio call to assist the fire department with an illegal fire at a residence. Upon arrival, they observed 37-year-old Lakeside resident Bonita H. get out of a 1991 BMW parked on the property. They also observed 26-year-old transient Michael S. driving a 1990 Honda on the property. Deputies conducted records checks on the BMW and the Honda and learned that both vehicles were reported stolen. H. was taken into custody without incident. S. fled inside the residence where he was taken into custody. Four other stolen cars were found parked on the property and were in various stages of being stripped for parts.

At approximately 5:13 p.m., Vista deputies responded to a radio call of a suspicious person looking into cars on South Santa Fe Avenue in Vista. Twenty-six-year-old Scott S., who lives at the residence in the 800 block of Vale View Drive, was subsequently found hiding in the restroom of the AM-PM at 1403 South Santa Fe Avenue. Deputies believed that Scott S. fled his residence when deputies arrived and he was taken into custody. Detectives from the San Diego County Regional Auto Theft Taskforce responded to the scene to conduct the follow up investigation and served a search warrant at the residence. A total of six stolen cars were recovered on the property with a value of approximately $40,000, with several of the cars having been stolen within the last 24 hours.

HIT AND RUN

• Location: Park Boulevard and B Street, East Village
• Time/Date: 5:58 a.m. on 1/21/05

Synopsis: A 36-year-old male was sleeping in a black bedroll on the grass of McDonald’s. When the sprinkler system turned on, he moved the bedroll to a parking space right next to the drive-through. An unknown type of vehicle entered the parking lot and ran over the victim’s chest and abdomen area. It is unknown how long he continued to lay in the parking lot before someone saw him and called police. The victim suffered 10 fractured ribs, a fractured clavicle and a possible fractured pelvis.