Charges filed against man accused of robbing pharmacies

Felony charges were filed today against a 31-year-old PalmDesert man suspected in three robberies at Coachella Valley pharmacies.

Angelo Philip Hawes is scheduled to be arraigned on three robbery countsthis afternoon at Indio’s Larson Justice Center.

Hawes was arrested at about 10:55 a.m. Tuesday at the Walgreens atWashington Street and Avenue 42 in Bermuda Dunes, scene of the most recentrobbery.

Authorities had been watching a vehicle ever since Hawes was seengetting into it at the scene of another robbery at a CVS Pharmacy in PalmDesert last week. Investigators saw a man run out and get into the vehicle onTuesday, 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 happened Sept. 12 at the store in the 42000 block ofWashington Street. A man entered, walked to the pharmacy counter and“simulated a gun underneath his T-shirt,” then left with an undisclosedamount of items, Oseguera said.

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

Oseguera said further investigation and evidence found when authoritiesserved a search warrant at Hawes’ residence implicated him in all threerobberies.

Hawes was booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility inBanning and was being held in lieu of $30,000 bail, according to jail records.