Arrest Made In String Of Coachella Valley Robberies

A 31-year-old La Quinta man was behind bars today for allegedly committing “the most prolific” string of robberies in the county’s history, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Sergio Lopez has been connected to more than 70 robberies since October, sheriff’s Sgt. Don Williamson said. The crime wave stretched from Temecula to Coachella, across nearly 20 cities or unincorporated county areas, he said.

“These armed robberies occurred within the unincorporated areas and cities of Riverside County at an unprecedented level,” according to Williamson.

Lopez was arrested May 11 in Indio after he was identified as the suspect in an April robbery in that city.

Lopez typically targeted business and patrons and workers inside, Williamson said. He mainly went after fashion-based businesses such as salons or clothing stores as well as restaurants, he added. The sergeant said employees and customers were sometimes terrorized or assaulted during the robberies. “Sergio Lopez was deemed to be a considerable threat to the citizens of Riverside County,” Williamson said.

He has already been charged with the April 29 robbery in Indio.

Williamson said sheriff’s investigators and prosecutors were still combing through evidence relating to other robberies.

Lopez was arrested at the Arabian Gardens Mobile Home Park in Indio, according to the sheriff’s department.

He was scheduled to appear at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta today for a felony settlement conference in the Indio robbery case, in which he is charged with one felony count of robbery and one felony count of kidnapping. He was also scheduled to appear in another case, in which he is facing a charge of driving with a suspended license.

Lopez is being held at the Riverside County Jail in lieu of a $1 million.