Suspect threatens clerk for 1 beer, pack of cigarettes
A 19-year-old accused of holding up a Palm Desert convenience store early Thursday morning was jailed and awaiting formal charges.
Sgt. Dan Devinny said officers were called to the Circle K store at the intersection of Washington Street and Country Club Drive around 2:45 a.m.
The clerk told them the suspect, Robert Dominic Espionza III, of Palm Desert, walked into the store and told the clerk he wanted a beer from the locked beer cooler.
He then pulled a knife on the clerk, Devinny said, as he grabbed a can of beer and a pack of cigarettes and walked to the store’s parking lot, where he began drinking.
Officers arrived and took Espinoza into custody.
If you have any information on this crime or others, call the Palm Desert Police Department, at 760-836-1660 or Crime Stoppers at 760-341-STOP (7867).
