Police Arrest 4 In String Of South Bay Armed Robberies
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- San Jose police arrested four people for a string of 18 armed robberies that took place over the past two months.
The three men and one woman were arrested last weekend after two robberies on Saturday at 7-11 stores on Branham Lane and South White Road, Sgt. Jason Dwyer said.
A police sergeant on midnight patrol in the area of Bird Avenue and Willow Avenue spotted a suspicious vehicle occupied by four subjects. After stopping the vehicle, the sergeant found evidence implicating the subjects in the robberies that had occurred earlier in the evening, including a firearm, Dwyer said.
Police arrested Jacob Benitez, a 19-year-old San Jose resident, Luis Esqueda, a 19-year-old Sunnyvale resident, Jessica Kobus, a 25-year-old San Jose resident and Erick Ellerbrock, a 19-year-old San Jose resident.
Investigators now believe the suspects are responsible for at least 16 additional robberies, most of which occurred at various 7-11 stores and Jack in the Box restaurants in San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and Campbell. The robberies occurred between Sept. 23 and Oct. 22.
All four of the suspects are thought to have taken active part in the robberies, in which suspects entered the businesses, brandished a gun and demanded money.
"This was an example of good old fashioned police work by our sergeant," said San Jose Police Chief Chris Moore. "Because of this sergeant's keen eye for suspicious activity, we were able to take four extremely violent individuals off the streets."
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