Denny’s robbery suspect arrested in police station parking lot

Indio Police officers have arrested a man wanted for the robbery of an Indio Denny’s on Friday shortly before noon. The arrest was made around 1:11 p.m.

68-year-old Christopher Scott Friedman was arrested when an IPD officer recognized a vehicle parked in the station’s parking lot that matched the suspect vehicle description. He was booked on charges of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

IPD received the call about the robbery at 11:52 a.m. A white male with “long thin hair” came into the restaurant, approached the counter where two employees were standing, held them at knifepoint, and demanded money.

The employees handed over the money to the suspect. A confrontation followed, and the suspect attacked both employees with the knife.

The employees sustained minor injuries. The suspect, who was described as wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers, He fled the scene in a white mid-sized van.

A witness at the Denny’s said that the robbery suspect had asked for a steak knife from a server at the Denny’s, then used the knife to commit the robbery.