Brinks armored security officer involved in shoot-out during robbery attempt
Indio CA Feb 9 2018
An attempted robbery of a Brinks armored truck security officer turned into a shoot-out between the suspect and security and then a police pursuit that ended in a suicide.
Police say that it all started on Wednesday after an attempted robbery of an armored car in Indio turned into a vehicle pursuit that ended in a Coachella mobile home park.
Shortly after 11:30 a.m., two armed males tried to rob a Brinks armored car driver working on an ATM outside the Wells Fargo bank branch at Highway 111 and Monroe Street in Indio, according to Sgt. Dan Marshall, an Indio police spokesman.
The men and the security officer exchanged gunfire, which involved numerous shots, Marshall said, adding that the Brinks driver was not injured.
When the pair failed to get any money, Marshall said, they fled the scene in a GMC SUV, which they then ditched at Rubideaux Street and Highway 111 and entered a parked, red Cadillac.
Marshall said investigators are trying to determine if the pair stole the Cadillac or it was parked there as part of an elaborate getaway plan.
“Whether they pre-staged it or not we don’t know,” he said.
The pair then lead Indio police on an elaborate, erratic chase into the parking lot of a Food 4 Less grocery store in Coachella.
Marshall said the suspects drove so crazily that they caused two Indio police SUVs to collide with each other. The vehicles were significantly damaged, but no officers were hurt.
Eventually, the suspects crashed the Cadillac into a wall behind the Food 4 Less.
Marshall said the males exited the car and then climbed over the wall, which bordered the Coachella Mobile Home Park, 49-615 Harrison St.
Indio police shut down the mobile home park, as well as Cesar Chavez Elementary School, which sits across the street from the park while they used dogs to search for the suspects.
Marshall declined to say exactly how police found the two males, but he said that when they did one had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The second male was arrested, Marshall said, adding that the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is also investigating.
Joseph Rodriguez, 31, was working at El Salvador Cafe, which is directly across the parking lot from the bank, when the incident occurred.
The Brinks truck was parked for about 30 minutes and it appeared the Brinks employee was just finishing work on the ATM when the shots rang out, Rodriguez said.
He said he looked up and saw the Brinks employee “ducking” and turning his head. “He was looking like ‘Where is it coming from?'” Rodriguez said.
He added that the employee continued walking around after the gunfire subsided and he appeared to be OK.
Business owners near the Wells Fargo bank branch at Highway 111 and Monroe Street said they first noticed something was wrong when they heard gunfire.
