A wily off-duty Redlands police officer who spotted a man wanted in an armed robbery that happened Monday morning, Nov. 29, tricked the suspect into driving right to uniformed officers who were waiting to arrest him, police said.
Redlands police received a call of an armed robbery at the Union 76 gas station at 1075 Parkford Drive at about 5:30 a.m. The robber demanded money from the clerk while lifting his shirt to reveal what appeared to be a handgun, a news release said.
The robber then fled east on the 10 Freeway.
Redlands police send text alerts on such crimes to all its officers, Police Chief Chris Catren said in an interview. That officer then saw a man matching the description of the robber in the parking lot of the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage. But because the officer was off duty, he was not equipped to detain the man, Catren said.
So the officer improvised, devising a plan that would get the suspect to drive toward an area where there were more law enforcement officers, said Catren, who declined to name the officer.
The officer, who did not tell the man he was a cop, asked the suspect for directions to the Morongo Casino in Cabazon, about 25 miles to the west. The officer doubled down on the request, offering the suspect $100 to drive there, with the officer following. The suspect accepted.
(The Morongo Casino, as most know, is not terribly hard to find, even without directions. It’s that 27-floor tower sticking up out of the Riverside County desert off the 10. Catren’s theory as to why the suspect fell for the ruse: “It just shows you what someone will do for money.”)
During the trip west, the officer confirmed that the man was the suspect in the robbery and told sheriff’s deputies where they were headed. When the suspect exited the freeway in Cabazon, deputies pulled him over and arrested him. They recovered a simulated handgun, Catren said.
Redlands police identified the man as Eric Valare Duma, 42, of Sun City, a neighborhood of Menifee. Duma was booked on suspicion of armed robbery into West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where he was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
The suspect never got the promised $100, Catren noted.
“It just goes to show you that a little quick thinking can go a long way,” the chief said. “Sometimes you have to get a little creative in law enforcement.”
