Felon arrested after police pursuit ends with crash

On July 10, 2014 at about 1:20 PM, Cathedral City Police Officers were dispatched to the 68700 Block of Tortuga Road, regarding an armed robbery that had just occurred. Officers arrived on scene and spoke with the victim who said he had been doing landscaping work at a residence when a male subject approached him about doing work at another residence.

The victim engaged in small talk about the work, when the suspect brandished a handgun. The suspect demanded the victim give him his wallet. The victim, fearing for his life, gave the suspect his wallet as requested.

The victim said the suspect fled the area in a 90’s model, Red, Ford Mustang. The victim said the front wheels of the suspect vehicle were chrome and the rear wheels black. With this information, Officers began checking the surrounding areas for the suspect’s vehicle.

As officers were still investigating, the victim had checked his online credit card account and saw his credit card was used at a local gas station. Officers went to the area but the suspect had already left. Officers were able to obtain a photograph of the suspect using the credit card, which gave them a good description.

At about 5:15 PM, while following up on investigative leads, detectives from the Cathedral City Police Department located a vehicle matching the description near Demuth Park in Palm Springs. At the same time they observed a male subject matching the suspect description enter the vehicle. As officers and detectives began to converge on the vehicle, the suspect accelerated away and a pursuit was initiated.

The suspect began driving around the Demuth Park area then came back out to Gene Autry Trail going south. The suspect continued to East Palm Canyon where the vehicle went east back into Cathedral City. After traveling east on East Palm Canyon, the suspect turned east onto Country Club Drive in Rancho Mirage. While driving on Country Club Drive, the suspect vehicle reached speeds near 90 MPH. The suspect vehicle then turned south onto Monterey Avenue. While on Monterey Avenue the suspect attempted to pass slower moving traffic and lost control. The suspect vehicle struck another vehicle and came to a stop along the shoulder area of Monterey and Avenida Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage.

After the vehicle came to a stop both occupants were taken into custody without further incident. The driver of the vehicle, Christian Cervantes, 23 Years Old, resident of Cathedral City was taken into custody for Robbery, Felony Evading, Assault with a Deadly Weapon and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. A weapon believed to be the one used during the commission of the robbery was recovered from the suspect vehicle.

There was also a 16 Year Old male passenger who was detained from the suspect vehicle. He was released to a parent after it was determined he was not involved in the original crime.

The driver of the car struck by the suspect was uninjured and the vehicle sustained moderate damage.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is requested to contact the Cathedral City Police Department at (760)770-0300.