An ex-con is set to be arraigned later this month on charges that he shot and critically wounded a gas station employee last month in Long Beach during a two-hour crime spree.
Frank Joseph Porras, 34, is charged with one count each of attempted murder, second-degree robbery, attempted carjacking, attempted second-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful possession of ammunition, along with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
The criminal complaint also alleges that he has a 2005 robbery conviction from Los Angeles County.
Porras, who was arrested Tuesday, allegedly shot an employee at a gas station in the 3200 block of East Seventh Street just before 5:30 a.m. Jan. 28.
“Detectives believe the suspect entered and robbed the business, which escalated into the suspect shooting the victim,” according to a Long Beach police statement. “The suspect then fled the scene on foot prior to officers’ arrival.”
About two hours prior to the shooting, police believe Porras attempted to burglarize a business in the 700 block of Redondo Avenue, but was unsuccessful and ran off before officers arrived.
Police were called shortly afterward to a gas station near Seventh Street and Redondo Avenue, where Porras allegedly approached a man and brandished a firearm while demanding the man’s vehicle, but ran off again before officers arrived.
Police were subsequently called to the gas station where the employee had been shot in the upper body.
Porras, who has remained behind bars since his arrest, is due in a Long Beach courtroom Feb. 22.