Armed Robber Hits Another Murrieta Business

An armed robber who Murrieta Police and surrounding agencies believe may be responsible for at least 40 armed robberies in Southwest Riverside struck again Wednesday night.

The robbery took place at 5:25 p.m. at Cosmo Prof, a beauty supply store at 39825 Alta Murrieta Dr., near Toys R Us in Murrieta.

"This guy is our series guy," said Murrieta Police Lt. Tony Conrad. "This one (tonight) was pretty typical. The employees were told to go to the back."

The suspect strolled in and out of the store unnoticed, said several witnesses who were in the parking lot during the robbery.

“I didn’t see anything, and I’m so careful. There had to be somebody who saw it,” said Kathy Bearse, who was chatting with a friend waiting for her daughter to finish dance lessons in a nearby studio. “People come in and out of the dance studio all the time.”

The suspect was described as a Hispanic male in his 30s, between 5 feet 8 and 5 feet 10 inches tall, with a stocky build, light-colored brown eyes and wearing a black hoodie and black pants. Similar to the other robberies, he pulled a T-shirt up over his face upon entering the business. The suspect was further described as having a dark complexion, dark slicked back hair and a distinct accent.

The robber’s speech is distinctive, said one employee of the business, who was shaken up after the robbery and asked not to be identified. “He totally had that east LA accent,” she said.

Deputies questioned a man standing on a corner nearby on Murrieta Hot Springs Road who matched the description around 6 p.m., but decided he wasn’t the suspect and let him go, a sheriff’s dispatcher said.

The suspect escaped through the front door, not the back, because the employees would have heard the back door opening, she said.

Most of the robberies that have taken place in Murrieta have been along the Interstate 215 corridor. A Juice It Up! off Clinton Keith was robbed Sunday for the second time. Pet Stop, which is located in the same shopping center as today's robbery, was held up on Friday. The suspect usually makes away with a few hundred dollars each time.

The gunman left his victims uninjured so far, but the emotional trauma is serious, victims’ parents said. Half an hour after the robbery, the door swung open and an employee came out crying and hugged her mother.

“She just called me all crying and said I just got held up at gunpoint,” the employee's mother recalled.

Conrad said Murrieta police are working closely with other law enforcement agencies to find and arrest the suspect they believe is responsible.

"We are doing as many things as we can, throwing every resource we can at it."

Police interviewed drivers leaving the busy shopping center Cosmo Prof is located in, hoping someone may have seen something that would help describe the suspect and the suspect's vehicle.

According to Conrad, witnesses in today's incident said the suspect was talking on a cellular device, possibly to a getaway driver. Police believe the suspect picks businesses that are close to a freeway exit, for quick getaway.

Three female employees were working at Cosmo Prof, but only one was visible when the suspect walked in, witnesses said. During other recent robberies, only one female employee has been working.

According to Sgt. Phil Gomez, the suspect entered the store and had an employee lock the front door. Brandishing a black semi-automatic handgun, he demanded cash from the registers. After that, Gomez said he ordered employees to the office and demanded they open the safe.

All three employees were then forced into a back restroom at gunpoint and told to stay there for five to 10 minutes. They called police about three minutes after the suspect left. Conrad did not know how much money was taken.

The suspect was seen exiting the store and heading west toward Burlington Coat Factory. No other suspects or vehicles were seen, Gomez said.

The robberies may be a sad sign of tough times, said the father of one victim.

“A lot you have to blame on the economy,” he said. “People are doing desperate things.”