Palm Desert man tied to several robberies in Coachella Valley

A 31-year-old Palm Desert man was arrested in connection with three robberies at Coachella Valley pharmacies, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Angelo Philip Hawes was arrested at the scene of one robbery, which was reported at 10:55 a.m. Tuesday at Walgreens at Washington Street and Avenue 42 in Bermuda Dunes.

Authorities had been watching a vehicle ever since Hawes had allegedly been seen getting into it at the scene of another robbery at a CVS Pharmacy in Palm Desert last week. Investigators saw a man run out and get into the vehicle, sheriff’s Deputy Julio Oseguera said.

“Moments later dispatchers advised the business had just been robbed,” Oseguera said, adding that Hawes was taken into custody without incident.

The CVS robbery occurred on Thursday at the store in the 42000 block of Washington Street. A man entered, walked to the pharmacy counter and “simulated a gun underneath his T-shirt,” then left with an undisclosed amount of items, Oseguera said.

He said investigators believed the suspect was also responsible for a similar robbery at the same store on July 25.

He said further investigation and evidence found when authorities served a search warrant at Hawes’ residence implicated him in all three robberies.

Hawes was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. No bail information was immediately available, according to jail

records.