Robbery Suspect Armed with Shotgun Arrested

Story updated July 5 at 12:36 p.m.

A 20-year-old suspected gang member was arrested early today after he allegedly threatened three people with a shotgun and robbed them on a North County roadside.

The victims reported the holdup in the 800 block of Clark Avenue in Encinitas shortly before 1 a.m., sheriff's Sgt. Darrell Strohl said.

The group had just gotten out of a vehicle when Hernan Cruz allegedly pointed a long-barreled gun at them and demanded they turn over their wallets and other belongings.The victims complied, and the masked robber told them to leave, Strohl said.They did so, then made a 911 call once they were out of sight of the thief.

Deputies fanned out through the neighborhood and found Cruz in a yard near the scene of the robbery, along with a loaded shotgun and ski mask, Strohl said.

Cruz was booked on suspicion of three counts each of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and making criminal threats and was being held in the Vista Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail pending arraignment Monday afternoon.

—City News Service