A 17-year-old boy is facing criminal charges for a string of robberies at local convenience stores after his arrest Thursday morning by the Turlock Police Department.
The arrest followed the most recent robbery, which was at a Valero gas station and store at 1202 Geer Road around 7:45 a.m. Thursday. The 17-year-old also is believed to have robbed the Wayside Market on Aug. 27 and the Kwik In Kwik Out on Oct. 6.
The initial report of the Valero robbery stated the black male suspect was armed and resembled the same suspect seen in the surveillance video from the Oct. 6 robbery, said Turlock Police spokesman Sgt. Russ Holeman.
Turlock Police detectives had identified a couple of possible suspects from the Oct. 6 robbery and when they heard the report of the robbery Thursday morning they went to an area where one of the suspects lived, Holeman said.
The detectives saw a vehicle leaving the residence they were watching and a traffic stop was initiated at the intersection of Geer and Pedras roads . There were three males in the vehicle, including the 17-year-old and after some additional investigation and interviews, the detectives arrested the 17-year-old for the three robberies. The other two males were questioned and released.
Detectives also found evidence linking the 17-year-old to the robberies, including the clothing seen in the surveillance video, a replica handgun matching the firearm seen in the video and Swisher cigar wrappers.
The robbery at the Kwik In Kwik Out at 750 Geer Road happened around 8 p.m. Surveillance video shows the robber burst into the store and order a male customer and the female store clerk to get on the ground behind the counter and put their hands up.
The robber then ordered the clerk to open the register and she complied. He took out handfuls of cash, dropping some on the floor and picking it up again. He looked through a few cabinets before throwing some tobacco products, including Swisher Sweet Cigars into the bag with the money.
The Wayside Market robbery was at 735 Wayside Drive and happened around 5:30 p.m. Aug. 27. In that robbery the robber entered the store with a black bandana covering his face. He pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded the money from the register.
The suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash from the register and before leaving the store grabbed a handful of cigar rolling papers.
