Serial purse snatch suspect arrested in Riverside, CA

Riverside Police Detectives, acting on information provided by a purse snatch victim, arrested a strongarm robbery suspect at the international boundary Saturday.

Since April 1, 2008, police have received reports of a male-and-female team committing robberies of elderly females in the vicinity of Riverside Plaza. In all of the cases, a male suspect would approach the victim in the parking lot of various businesses and steal women’s purses. During some of the struggles, the victims either fell or were pushed to the ground. Some of the victims received minor scratches and bruising, however none needed immediate medical attention. The male suspect would then get into a nearby waiting vehicle, driven by a female subject, and flee the area.

On Friday, May 30, at about 10:15 a.m., officers responded to the 6400-block of Magnolia Avenue to assist a purse snatch victim who had been accosted in a business parking lot. The victim was able to provide suspect information and a vehicle license number.

Further investigation indicated the suspects might be traveling to Mexico, based on credit card transactions yesterday using the victim’s stolen cards. Detectives broadcast the suspect information to area law enforcement agencies. Saturday morning, about 8:30 a.m., the U.S. Border Patrol at Calexico stopped the suspect vehicle and detained two occupants when they returned to the United States from Mexico.

Riverside Police Detectives went to Calexico and made contact with the suspects. Some of the victim’s credit cards were located in the vehicle during a search, Detectives returned with one of the suspects, Adan RODRIGUEZ, 19, of Riverside. Additional stolen property belonging to other robbery victims was found during a search of the suspect’s residence in the 6500-block of Piccadilly Street. The identity of the female suspect is known. The investigation continues.

Rodriguez was booked into Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside for six counts of Robbery and an immigration hold. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Riverside Police Detective Dave Smith at (951) 353-7103.