Sacramento man misses court hearing in robbery case

 Posted on December 30, 2011 in Shoplifting, Robbery & Burglary

Police and prosecutors claim the man committed two California robberies and attempted a third within a four-day period beginning Dec. 5. Law enforcement says the man robbed a check cashing store in San Mateo around 11:00 a.m. Dec. 5.

The next day, police claim the same man attempted to rob a second check cashing store at the same time of day. However, police claim the clerk, who was behind bulletproof glass at the store, tripped an alarm and fled to a safe room in defeating the alleged robbery attempt.

Law enforcement says the Sacramento man turned to a pawn shop in his alleged robbery spree, stealing a laptop and getting an undisclosed amount of cash during the pawn shop robbery. Law enforcement says the Sacramento man used a handgun in each of the alleged crimes.

Prosecutors say that law enforcement viewed a surveillance video from one of the stores and observed a brown minivan. Police claim to have located the vehicle and during a search, seized a semiautomatic handgun with extra clips, $1,200 cash and a laptop that police claim was stolen.

A preliminary hearing reportedly was scheduled for Friday in San Mateo County Superior Court. However, prosecutors say the defendant failed to appear at that hearing.

Source: San Francisco Examiner, "Alleged armed robber bails out of custody - and court hearing," Ari Burack, Dec, 26, 2011