Indio man convicted of 50 counts for six-month crime spree

An Indio man was convicted of 50 counts for a six-month county-wide crime spree in 2011.

27-year-old Sergio Nicolas Lopez faces 50 years in prison after a jury convicted him of 50 counts including robbery, burglary, false imprisonment, and carjacking.

Lopez was tried for crimes that occurred on 18 different days over a six-month period from November 2010 to May 2011.

The crimes happened at a variety of businesses in the Coachella Valley and multiple Riverside County cities including Perris, Hemet, Riverside, and Beaumont. The locations included businesses such as a clothing store, a beauty supply store, shoe stores, hair salons, sandwich shops, and ice cream stores.

The businesses suffered monetary losses ranging from a couple hundred dollars to about
$1,500.

Lopez was tried on 58 counts in this case, jurors convicted him of 50 counts, acquitted him on
five counts and hung on three others. The three counts resulting in a hung jury, two robbery counts and burglary, were dismissed by the DA’s office. 77 witnesses were called in to testify during the five-week trial.

Lopez is scheduled to be sentenced on November 17 in Riverside.