String of Robberies Possibly Linked

Two armed robberies may have been committed by one suspect last weekend, according to a sheriff’s official.

Supercuts, a hair salon at 29910 Murrieta Hot Springs, was robbed around 6 p.m. Saturday. , a sandwich shop at 40315 Winchester Road, was robbed around 6:45 p.m. Sunday. In both incidents, the suspect fit the same description and committed the crime similarly.

A man described as Hispanic in his 20s or 30s wearing a black hooded sweater walked into Supercuts with dark clothing and a cloth covering the lower half of his face, pulled out a handgun and forced two employees and one customer into a storage room. He then took cash from the register and ran away, according to sheriff’s Deputy Melissa Nieburger.

Nobody was hurt, according to Lea Perez, the salon’s manager who was there during the robbery.

A Hispanic man of an identical description with a T-shirt pulled over the lower half of his face and a black hooded sweater walked into Subway, held up an employee at gunpoint and ordered her to empty the drawer into a bag, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Keith Knotek.

The suspect then ordered the employees into an industrial-sized freezer in the back room, where they stayed for about 20 minutes, said Donna Scherbarth, who works at the shop. The two victims came out after they felt the suspect was gone.

The freezer’s temperature stays colder than 30 degrees, but nobody was hurt, Scherbarth said. The suspect stole money from the register and from an employee’s purse.

To see the sheriff's incident report, click here.

The circumstances and suspect descriptions are similar, though investigators are uncertain whether one suspect is behind the crimes, Nieburger said. “We’re not saying they’re related, but we’re investigating all possibilities,” she said.

The Sheriff's Department asked anybody with information to call the Southwest Station Detective Bureau at 951-696-3000.