Hemet Man Tied To 'Most Prolific Robbery Series' In Riverside County Awaits News Of Fate

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Jury deliberations got underway Thursday in the second trial of a convicted murderer accused in a months-long robbery spree targeting numerous businesses and involving dozens of alleged victims throughout Riverside County.

Sergio Nicolas Lopez, 37, is charged with 58 felony counts. Eighteen of the allegations stem from holdups at businesses in Hemet, Indio, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Riverside, San Jacinto and Temecula.

After almost a month of testimony from 77 witnesses, the prosecution and defense completed their closing statements Thursday, after which Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz sent jurors behind closed doors to begin weighing Lopez's fate.

The defendant, who is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside, has already been convicted of 20 felony counts, including 10 robbery charges, from a trial that concluded in August 2014.

That first trial, handled by Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Garcia, focused on roughly half of the robbery series for which Lopez is blamed. Jurors acquitted Lopez of multiple counts and deadlocked on others, most of which were later dismissed.

The few remaining active charges were incorporated into the second trial, which Deputy District Attorney Tim Cross prosecuted.

He told City News Service that the D.A.'s office decided not to attempt to try the convicted felon on the entire 127-count complaint in the first go- round due to time constraints and manageability. So the case was split in two.

The robbery series began in November 2010 and ended in April 2011, according to court papers.

Prosecutors allege the defendant was responsible for 80 separate robbery "events." He allegedly told sheriff's investigators after his arrest that he committed the holdups for cash to support his heroin addiction.

According to the D.A.'s office, Lopez's first known robbery occurred on Nov. 20, 2010, at a Supercuts in Hemet. Three women working in the shop told detectives that a Hispanic man carrying what appeared to be a black semiautomatic handgun and covering his face with a white shirt walked into the shop late in the day and demanded money.

The same method was used in each holdup, with the bandit entering establishments around closing time and hustling employees at gunpoint to a secluded area while he emptied the cash drawers, according to prosecutors. Most of the places targeted were hair salons and juice bars.

On the evening of April 29, 2011, Lopez allegedly burst into Anna's Linens in the 42-200 block of Jackson Court in Indio, brandished a pistol and told a female clerk to "Give me the money!" After snatching funds from the register, the masked bandit fled in a gray Honda Accord.

Moments later, an Indio police officer spotted the same vehicle speeding along Monroe Avenue. The patrolman chased the car for 15 minutes, until the Honda veered off the roadway and onto a curb, where the driver bailed out and fled into the Arabian Gardens Mobile Home Park on Fred Waring Drive.

Lopez was allegedly able to leave the area by catching a ride with a resident. Officers stopped the pickup truck as it was departing and questioned the defendant, but ultimately let him go. Evidence collected at the scene, including gloves, a sweatshirt, a toy pistol and -- most importantly -- the Honda, which turned out to belong to the defendant's girlfriend, culminated in his arrest a few days later.

A search warrant at Lopez's residence led to the seizure of property taken during several of the robberies, according to Cross.

"By all accounts ... these crimes represent the most prolific robbery series in the history of Riverside County," sheriff's Sgt. Don Williamson said after charges were filed in the case.

Lopez has a 1993 conviction for a gang-related murder in Los Angeles County. He was convicted as a juvenile and released within a few years, according to court papers.

— By City News Service / Image via Riverside County Sheriff's Department