RIVERSIDE (CNS) – Two suspects remaiN in custody today in connection
with a spree of 7-Eleven store robberies, including one in Riverside, that
occurred across three counties and in which two people were killed and three
others injured — and authorities said at least one of the men may be tied to a
killing in Los Angeles two days earlier.
Malike Patt, 20, and Jason Payne, 44, both of Los Angeles, were
arrested about 1:10 p.m. Friday in the 1900 block of West 23rd Street in Los
Angeles, authorities said at a news conference in Santa Ana. Patt is considered
the main suspect seen in widely circulated surveillance video photos from some
of the robberies.
Patt was being held in the Santa Ana jail and Payne was taken to a Los
Angeles-area hospital to be treated for minor injuries sustained while
being arrested, Santa Ana police Chief David Valentin said.
In addition to the convenience store heists in San Bernardino,
Riverside and Orange counties, Los Angeles police Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton
said the July 9 slaying of an unidentified transient in the 16100 block of
Parthenia Street in the North Hills area is believed to be tied to at least one
of the suspects. The killing occurred about 200 yards away from a 7-Eleven
store that was robbed that same day.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said he planned on filing
murder charges next week stemming from shootings that occurred during the
robbery spree in Brea and Santa Ana on Monday. He said Patt will be charged in
a way that will lead to no bail.
Spitzer said any trial will be held in one county for all of the
alleged crimes. He said he would discuss the best way to handle it with fellow
top prosecutors in Riverside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
The 7-Eleven company this week offered a $100,000 reward for
information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect in the
robberies and killings. It was unclear if anyone will be eligible to claim the
reward.
The rash of violence — carried out on July 11, or 7-11 — prompted
the 7-Eleven corporation to recommend that Los Angeles-area stores temporarily
close their doors Monday night and again on Tuesday night, and some stores also
appeared to be close early on Wednesday.
The first 7-Eleven holdup in the crime spree occurred in Ontario.
Police said just after midnight Monday, the 7-Eleven at 636 N. Vine Ave. was
robbed. The suspect held up the store with a handgun, but no shots were fired
and no one was injured.
At 1:35 a.m. Monday, the 7-Eleven store at 2410 W. Arrow Route in
Upland was robbed, police said.
At 1:50 a.m., a 7-Eleven store at 5102 La Sierra Ave. in Riverside was
robbed by a gunman. That robbery escalated, with the suspect shooting a
customer, who was hospitalized in what was described as grave condition.
Riverside police Officer Ryan Railsback said the victim has shown “slight
improvement, but is still very critical.”
Minutes after 3 a.m., a Yum Yum Donuts at 2441 N. Tustin St. in Santa
Ana was robbed, Valentin said.
About 20 minutes later, 24-year-old Matthew Rule of Santa Ana was
fatally shot outside the 7-Eleven store at 302 E. 17th St. in Santa Ana.
Officers found Rule in the parking lot with a gunshot wound to the upper body,
Santa Ana Police Department Sgt. Maria Lopez said. The victim was pronounced
dead at the scene.
Valentin said Rule was not the primary target of the shooter. He said
the gunman was targeting someone else, but Rule “stepped in” to “redirect”
the robber and was shot.
Brea police said they responded at 4:17 a.m. Monday to the 7-Eleven
store at 109 W. Lambert Road and found a male store clerk fatally shot in what
officers determined to be a robbery. The clerk was later identified as 40-year-
old Matthew Hirsch, who died at the scene, police said.
About a half-hour later, the 7-Eleven store at 381 E. Whittier Blvd.
in La Habra was robbed, and two people were shot, according to La Habra police
Sgt. Eric Roy. Both victims were taken to a hospital, and both were expected to
survive. Police said the victims were a clerk and a customer.
Based on surveillance images, police said they were able to link the
same suspect to all of the heists.
The Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday afternoon that
detectives were investigating a similar string of robberies at two convenience
stores and two doughnut shops within the LAPD’s Devonshire Division in the San
Fernando Valley that occurred between 3:55 and 5:30 a.m. July 9. That string
included the 7-Eleven store that was robbed near the location of the fatal
shooting that Hamilton said was linked to the other convenience store crimes.
Other businesses that were robbed were located in the 16000 block of
Nordhoff Street, the 16000 block of Devonshire Street and the 16000 block of
San Fernando Mission Boulevard. No injuries were reported in any of the
robberies, but the suspect was armed with a handgun, police said.
Hamilton said Friday investigators believe that “a number of crimes”
in the Los Angeles area will eventually be linked to the suspect in the
July 9 fatal shooting.
Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Doug Chaffee said the
board on Tuesday will set up a fund to benefit the victims of the crime spree.
“We want to be certain those injured are taken care of,” Chaffee said.
Santa Ana Mayor Vicente Sarmieno said the shootings “chilled” the
community because of their “depravity and randomness.” He praised law
enforcement for the quick arrests.
“Sometimes these things are never solved, but this happened in five
days,” Sarmiento said.
Brea Police Chief Adam Hawley said, “These crimes have undeniably
broken our hearts.” Spitzer called the shootings a “reign of terror.”
Copyright 2022, City News Service, Inc.
