A 20-year-old man suspected of robbing a Moreno Valley senior and firing a gun during the holdup was being held Thursday on $25,000 bail.
Lata Aeau of Moreno Valley was arrested and booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside Wednesday on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, extortion, receiving stolen property and elder abuse.
His brother, 21-year-old Anzac Aeau, was taken into custody at the same time in connection with an unrelated fugitive warrant, while their friend, 34-year-old Tavui Onosai, was arrested on suspicion of auto theft.
Those two men are being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.
According to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Ryan Marcuse, the alleged robbery occurred on the morning of Dec. 16 in the 11000 block of Mathews Road.
That location is where Lata Aeau allegedly arranged to conduct a private sale of goods with the victim, whose identity was not disclosed, via the OfferUp app, Marcuse said.
When the man encountered Aeau, the suspect pulled a semiautomatic handgun and “forcefully removed the items for sale,” he said.
Before leaving the scene with the goods, Aeau allegedly fired a single round in the victim’s direction, but did not hit him, Marcuse said.
Aeau fled in a dark-colored SUV, Marcuse alleged, adding that patrol deputies responding to the victim’s 911 call swarmed the area in an attempt to find the vehicle, without luck.
Further investigation utilizing the Citywide Camera System culminated in the SUV being tracked to Lata Aeau, and a search warrant was served at his residence in the 12000 block of Barnes Court.
Marcuse said evidence from the robbery was seized at the location.
The Aeau brothers and Onosai were taken into custody without incident. No information regarding the cases of the younger Aeau and Onosai was available.