A 34-year-old Cathedral City man has been charged with the January robbery of a Coachella marijuana dispensary.
During the robbery, the man—a reported felon—allegedly brandished a short-barreled shotgun while encountering a security guard.
The burglary happened in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Jan. 11. The suspect, Carlos Ernesto Vasquez, was able to avoid capture for approximately two months.
On Tuesday, March 14, Vasquez was located near the 79200 block of Highway 111 in the city of La Quinta by members of the Fugitives and Warrants Enforcement Team (FWET), Sgt. Thomas Anderson said in a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
The arrest was made without incident, and Vasquez was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio, Anderson said in the release. The charges against the suspect include robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a short-barreled shotgun, felon in possession of ammunition, and possession of stolen property.
The preliminary investigation showed that Vasquez broke into the marijuana dispensary where an onsite security guard confronted him, Anderson said. The guard escaped injury, although Vasquez allegedly pulled out a short-barreled shotgun to make his escape. The report noted that it was approximately 2 a.m. on Jan. 11 when Thermal Station deputies responded to the burglary in the 86000 block of Avenue 54 in Coachella. The security guard was able to escape the situation unharmed, and the suspect had left the scene. But the sheriff's department had a bit of help in identifying Vasquez as the suspect.
"The incident was captured on video surveillance," Anderson said in the release.
Besides FWET, Thermal Station's Coachella Community Action Team (CCAT) also had a key role in the investigation, the release said.
To further the investigation, Anderson is asking those with information related to the case or Vasquez to call Deputy Esteban Molina of the Thermal Station's CCAT at 760-863-8990.