Indio man accused in two armed robberies in Cabazon

An Indio man has been arrested on suspicion of robbing two gas stations in Cabazon at gunpoint on the same night.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department says 34-year-old Steven Machado was booked in connection with the robberies.

The first robbery was reported about 7 p.m. Monday at Chevron in the 48300 block of Seminole Drive. While deputies were responding to that crime, a second robbery was reported at Valero in the 300 block of Fern Drive, sheriff’s Sgt. James Burton said.

Burton said a Hispanic man wearing a ski mask brandished a semi-automatic handgun at cashiers at both gas stations, demanded money and drove off in a white pickup truck with undisclosed amounts of cash.

Within an hour, a deputy saw an abandoned pickup matching the vehicle’s description on northbound Highway 62 north of the Interstate 10 off ramp in Whitewater.

While authorities investigated the pickup, Machado arrived as a passenger in another in a vehicle and said he owned the pickup, Burton said.

Machado was detained and later booked into the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning on suspicion of two counts of robbery.