An 18-year-old Riverside man is behind bars after a string of armed robberies that rattled the area around the University of California, Riverside campus over the course of one weekend, with detectives recovering evidence tying him to the holdups before booking him on six counts of armed robbery.
Shareef Pendergrass was arrested in connection with the robberies near the UC Riverside campus, according to the Riverside Police Department, as reported by KTLA. The first reported robbery happened at 7:57 p.m. on Oct. 23 near the Islamic Center of Riverside in the 1000 block of Linden Street, per the outlet's reporting. In that incident, a suspect approached a UC Riverside student from behind while riding a scooter and demanded money; the student believed the suspect was armed with a handgun. A second robbery was reported that same night near Blaine Street and Canyon Crest Drive by the Stonehaven Apartments, which police said resembled the earlier incident.
A Third Robbery and a Frightening Encounter
A third robbery followed the next evening, reported at 7:07 p.m. on Oct. 24 at University Crest Apartments on Canyon Crest Drive, the station's report states. UC Riverside police officers searched the surrounding area afterward but did not locate the suspect.
UC Riverside's own police department issued a crime alert flagging an armed robbery and attempted robberies on or near campus on Oct. 23, according to the University of California Riverside Police Department. Riverside Police Department robbery-homicide unit detectives joined UC Riverside police investigators to identify the person responsible, the article notes.
Search Warrant Leads to Arrest
Detectives located and arrested Pendergrass three days after the first robbery, with assistance from the department's Metro and PACT teams. Investigators served a search warrant at his residence and recovered evidence linking him to the robberies, per the same account from the Riverside Police Department.
Pendergrass was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center on six counts of armed robbery, with bail set at $280,000. The investigation remains ongoing.
