2 Arrested In RivCo Home Invasion Robbery Amid Cross-County Investigation

RIVERSIDE, CA — Two men were arrested in connection with a home invasion robbery in Riverside, the Riverside Police Department reported Tuesday. The case is part of a broader investigation into violent home invasion robberies spanning several Southern California counties.

Deontae Coleman, 34 of Riverside County and Roderick Johnson, 39 of Moreno Valley, were both arrested on suspicion of robbery in Riverside in mid-May, according to Riverside Police Department Information Officer Ryan Railsback. The men were booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center and are being held at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta, awaiting formal charges.

A spike in violent home invasion robberies in affluent southland neighborhoods prompted the formation of a multi-agency task force to investigate the crimes. As criminals share information on prime targets, federal investigators and local investigators from Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties are working together to share leads as part of the ongoing home invasion investigation, according to Railsback.

“Both suspects are also being investigated for committing crimes in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties,” Railsback said.

On May 17, two armed men, believed to be Coleman and Johnson, entered a home in the 1500 block of Kyle Court in the Sycamore Canyon neighborhood of Riverside, Railsback said. A woman was home alone when two armed men broke into her home and confronted her, Railsback said.

“She was not injured during the robbery, as it happened quickly,” he said. “The home’s alarm started blaring and the suspects fled in two vehicles.”

Police did not disclose if the suspects stole anything from the Kyle Court home. Investigators were able to identify a white 2016 Jeep Cherokee and a silver 2002 Mercedes 320 from neighborhood security camera footage. After months of investigation, working with both federal and nearby law enforcement officers in a joint task force made the arrest. Coleman was arrested on Sept. 6 and Johnson was arrested two days later, on Sept. 8.

There are similarities between the Sycamore Canyon robbery and two violent robberies in Alessandro Heights in the days prior to the robbery. However, Riverside police Chief Larry Gonzalez does not believe the men in custody were responsible for those crimes.

“We do think they are part of a larger organized group of criminals sharing information and committing similar types of crimes throughout the southland,” he said.

On May 11, a home located in the 14100 block of Ashton Lane was broken into by an unidentified number of robbers shortly before 10 p.m. A family of three — two adults and a child — were forced into the bathroom at gunpoint and bound with duct tape. The robbers took cash, cell phones and other items and left their victims tied up but otherwise uninjured. Ultimately, the victims were able to free themselves and run to a neighbor's home where they called the police. Days later, a Riverside man was shot multiple times inside his Moss Road home during another armed home invasion. As of September, no arrests have been made in either case.

Riverside police investigators —working with the FBI’s Inland Violent Crime Suppression Task Force — have followed leads and searched 17 different locations, seized 21 weapons and arrested five people for crimes related to the searches, and identified more people of interest for the open investigations, Gonzalez said. Leads have helped investigators in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties to make arrests in their home invasion cases.

A spike in high-profile home invasions and follow-home robberies in Los Angeles County prompted the Los Angeles Police Department to create the Robbery Homicide Follow-Home Robbery Task Force in 2021.

Authorities identified dozens of robberies — including some that turned deadly — as the work of organized street gangs. In creating the task force, police said the robberies were becoming increasingly brazen and violent, often involving gun-wielding robbers.

"The impact this is having on the sense of community, of safety, is profound," Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore said while introducing the task force.

In many of the cases, robbers identified victims at Los Angeles nightclubs wearing expensive jewelry or driving expensive cars and followed them home to commit the robberies, according to investigators.

The perpetrators have included crews with varying gang affiliations. At least six different LA street gangs have been identified, according to the LAPD.

The task force has collaborated with multiple agencies to identify cases across the Southland that may be connected.

Many cases, such as the Alessandro Heights robberies in Riverside, remain unsolved.

“We are still working the Alessandro Heights neighborhood crimes, and have good leads and our detectives are working closely with other agencies toward developing more,” Gonzalez said.

At the request of the police department, Riverside City Council Members revived a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the robberies.

“We are hopeful the reward will elicit information that helps bring these dangerous criminals to justice,” Gonzalez said.

Coleman and Johnson are scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 20 at the Superior Court of California Riverside Hall of Justice on Sept. 20, according to jail records. Bail for each man has been set at $1 million.

If you witness suspicious activity in your neighborhood that is not an emergency but in real time, please contact our Public Safety Communications Center at (951) 354-2007.

If it’s an emergency, dial 9-1-1. Any relevant information, images, or digital video regarding the May Alessandro Heights crimes or of suspicious activity from that time that could be related, send an email to our task force at 212.5TF@RiversideCA.gov