San Diego County’s Spate of Overnight Robberies: Multiple Locations Targeted

Multiple reports of armed robberies in San Diego County have led to a countywide probe into an overnight crime spree.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department and the San Diego Police say that two or three black male suspects broke into places from North County down to San Diego.

Police say that the suspects in the robberies seem to fit the description in all but one of the locations. From about 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday until just after midnight on Wednesday morning, thieves hit the following places:

Stockton Neighborhood

Police say that around 11:28 p.m., three black men broke into a store on the 3000 block of Market Street. Reports say they rushed up to the register and took it off the desk. They all took the cash register and ran out of the shop. The last person who saw them was running north on 30th St.

It was said that the three suspects were between the ages of 19 and 25. One was seen with black shorts and white shoes, and the other had on a grey jacket and shorts. The third person was not described in any way.
At this point, we don’t know how much money was lost.

Mira Mesa Neighborhood

Police in San Diego say two suspects walked into a 7-Eleven at 11:39 p.m. on the corner of Camino Ruiz and Capricorn Way and pointed guns at the cashier. Police say the two suspects were last seen leaving the store going south after emptying the cash register.

One suspect was said to be skinny and about 5 feet tall. There were no specifics given about the second suspect. The robbery did not hurt the store clerk, and cops say they do not yet know how much money was stolen.

Barrio Logan Neighborhood

In this case, cops said three black men wearing masks broke into the store and stole two cash registers. They went off in a direction no one knew.

Only that one of the suspects was wearing shorts was given as a description.

At this point, we don’t know how much money was lost.

Lake Murray Neighborhood

SDPD said that around 12:08 a.m. Wednesday, two suspects went into a Chevron at 8780 Lake Murray Blvd. Someone is said to have pulled out a gun and told the cashier to open the register.

Police said the clerk did what they asked, and one of the suspects took an unknown amount of cash from the register while the other suspect watched. Both of the suspects were last seen going west on Navajo Road.

The first suspect was said to be between 10 and 15 years old, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, and 100 pounds. A black mask and a gray hoodie were seen on this suspect. The second suspect was said to be a woman, her age unknown, who was wearing a sports shirt and pajama pants.

La Mesa

Around 12:20 a.m., two thieves broke into the 7-Eleven at 4200 Spring St. and stole things. Wednesday, the La Mesa Police Department said for sure. Things like cash and tobacco from behind the bar were taken from the register. The suspects are said to have left the store on foot, heading west.

The first suspect was about 5 feet 9 inches tall and wore white jeans, a black ski mask, and a light-colored jacket with a hood. It was said that this person had a gun.

It was said that the second suspect was 5 feet 7 inches tall and had a thin build. It was said that this person was wearing blue pants, a black ski mask, and a purple jacket with a hood.

Additional Locations

The sheriff’s office reported that there were more thefts at these places:

• Lakeside is at 10100 Main Ave.
• 400 Sweetwater Rd. and 9600 Campo Road in Spring Valley
• In Santee, go to 9600 Carlton Hills Blvd.
• In San Marcos, go to 26900 Mesa Rock Rd.
• 550 Mission Rd., Fallbrook.

Police in South Dakota said that two or three black men wearing bandanas or ski masks were seen as suspects in these cases. Some of these places had cash registers stolen between 9:45 p.m. Tuesday and just after midnight Wednesday.

No descriptions of the vehicles were given right away, and no injuries have been recorded in connection with these thefts.

In a second news release on Wednesday, the SDPD said that over the past six weeks, there have been several “armed take-over style robberies” in San Diego.

People need to help the SDPD quickly find the people who may be guilty for the thefts so that they don’t get worse and more dangerous.

“These investigations go from A to Z, and we’re about at B right now,” Lt. Adam Sharki, SDP’s public information officer, said.

He said that the same group of people have done at least ten of the thefts in the last few weeks. The police say the group is made up of young guys, maybe younger than 18 years old.

“The detectives working those cases don’t want to give away too much information that could hurt the investigation,” Sharki said.

Police say the young guys are going after gas stations and convenience stores. They usually do this in groups of one to four people, all wearing ski masks or bandanas. Sometimes, the suspects would pull out a gun and demand money, goods, or even cash machines.

Sharki said that police think at least some of the recent crimes are linked, but they still need to go through a process to be sure.

“Once (investigators) have enough things that they think line up, they connect them,” he said. There must be a link that can be proven. When there are a few thefts that look or feel alike, police can use certain clues to link them together and call it a series.

Sharki said that the SDPD can’t say for sure which robberies are part of the string of crimes right now. However, police told FOX 5 that they think the three overnight thefts in the Stockton, Barrio Logan, and Mira Mesa neighborhoods are linked.

Thieves took cash registers or money in all of those cases. It was reported to the cops in Mira Mesa that someone pointed a gun at a clerk.

She said, “Someone knows these people.” “One, two, three, four, or more people can’t be in an armed robbery crew and no one will know about it.”

The SDPD needs help from the public to find the people who are suspected of committing these crimes.

If you have any information, you can call the Robbery Unit at (619) 531-2299 or call Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477 to remain private.