A suspect wanted for armed robberies in Central California and Nebraska who allegedly tried to hold up an armored car at an Indio bank with another man in the desert east of Palm Springs and then led authorities on a wild chase, was charged with attempted murder and attempted robbery Friday.
The other man killed himself as he was about to be taken into custody.
Homero Palomino Ontiveros, 32, was arrested by Indio police Wednesday afternoon after he and his alleged accomplice — who later took his own life — allegedly attempted to rob a Brinks truck in the parking lot of the Wells Fargo bank near Highway 111 and Monroe Street at around noon.
The two men got into a shootout with a security guard then fled the scene in an SUV, which they ditched near Rubidoux Street and Highway 111 when they jumped into a red Cadillac, according to Indio Sgt. Daniel Marshall.
The suspects later crashed the Cadillac near a Coachella Food 4 Less market and fled on foot into a mobile home park, Marshall said.
There, Ontiveros was taken into custody, while his unidentified accomplice died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In addition to his arrest in the Coachella Valley, Ontiveros is suspected of taking part in a string of armed robberies at businesses throughout Central California and Nebraska.
A news release from Tulare County Sheriff’s Office implicated Ontiveros and others in 14 armed robberies over the course of 15 months, with more than $250,000 taken in those crimes.
“Each robbery was the same,” the release states, “(3-4) armed suspects entered the business wearing masks and gloves. In an organized, methodical and well-planned manner, they tactically cleared the store with assault rifles and pistols out, scanning for any patrons or owners.”
Money from the businesses was taken, as well as personal property from bystanders at the scene.
The release says the suspects never physically assaulted the victims, who numbered 19 in Tulare County alone, where Ontiveros and others are accused in a dozen armed robberies.
At least six of Ontiveros’ alleged accomplices in that spree were arrested in 2017.
Ontiveros also has an outstanding arrest warrant for robbery and conspiracy out of Dodge County, Nebraska, where he’s accused of taking part in an armed robbery in Fremont and the attempted burglary and theft of an ATM machine elsewhere in the county.
Ontiveros, who’s being held without bail, was scheduled for a video arraignment Friday afternoon.
–City News Service