North Bay Man Suspected In 12 Armed Robberies: Police

NORTH BAY, CA — A 21-year-old Vallejo man has been apprehended and is believed to have committed 12 armed robberies at businesses in four Bay Area counties — Sonoma, Napa, Solano and Contra Costa — police said Wednesday evening.

Authorities suspect that Juan Murillo — who was arrested Tuesday and is being held in lieu of $750,000 bail at Solano County jail — carried out at least four of those holdups on Saturday, Jan. 26: at Metro PCS in Rohnert Park, at two different Metro PCS stores in Vacaville and at a Boost Mobile store in Napa.

"While comparing notes and surveillance photos with Vacaville PD detectives, [it was] determined that the same suspect may have committed similar robberies in the cities of Fairfield, Vallejo and Concord," Rohnert Park DPS Sgt. Jeff Justice said in a news release.

The two Vacaville robberies happened about an hour and a half prior to the one in Rohnert Park, while the Napa robbery was reported about two and a half hours after the Rohnert Park incident, Justice said.

In each instance, the suspect held up a gun and demanded cash and cellphones, the sergeant said.

Fortunately for investigators, an employee of a business near the Rohnert Park Metro PCS store reported seeing the suspect get into a late-‘90s gold Toyota Corolla with a missing hubcap, Justice said.

Through a combined law enforcement effort involving detectives from Rohnert Park, Vacaville, Vallejo, Napa and Fairfield, the Toyota was identified in Vacaville surveillance video which captured the car's license plate number just after one of the robberies in that city, the sergeant said.

"Follow-up investigation on the vehicle helped identify a possible suspect as 21-year-old Vallejo resident Juan Murillo," Justice said.

Murillo was subsequently positively identified by the clerk from the Rohnert Park Metro PCS store, as well as clerks from several of the other stores, the sergeant said.

Working together with the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, detectives from Fairfield and Vallejo police departments located the Toyota parked in Vallejo in front of an address associated with Murillo, Justice said.

After obtaining a warrant for his arrest, detectives contacted Murillo during a traffic stop in Vallejo and took him into custody on suspicion of the Vacaville and Fairfield robberies, police said.

When detectives from Vacaville, Fairfield, Vallejo, Rohnert Park and Napa served follow-up search warrants at addresses in Vallejo, they located evidence supporting his involvement in the robberies, including a loaded gun, police said.

"Murrillo is believed to have committed 12 armed robberies in four different counties," Justice said. "Rohnert Park detectives are continuing to work with the outside agencies to finalize their investigations, and we will be seeking an arrest warrant for him as well. We would like to thank all the agencies that worked together to get this violent person off the streets."

Anyone with information relevant to the investigation is asked to contact Rohnert Park DPS Detective Jon Kempf at 707-584-2630.

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Photos courtesy Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety