Suspect eludes Atascadero police after reports of 3 armed robberies
Atascadero police spent much of the day Sunday searching for a robbery suspect who was apparently involved in three incidents beginning on Saturday night.
The search, which included a helicopter, spurred police to order a shelter-in-place for an area on the south end of town that lasted until 3 p.m.
As of about 4:10 p.m., police had not found the suspect, according to an Atascadero Police Department news release.
The sequence of events begin on Saturday night when a juvenile was “robbed of his backpack and personal property at gunpoint” near Morro Road and Curbaril Avenue, the news release read.
On Sunday morning, another person was robbed at gunpoint on El Camino Real near Atascadero State Hospital. Police responded to the robbery at 8:56 a.m.
“Officers arrived on scene and saw the described suspect flee on foot, over a fence, into an adjacent apartment complex,” the news release read.
Later on Sunday, a third victim reported an armed robbery. All three victims “described matching suspect descriptions,” the news release read.
Police searched the apartment complex but didn’t find the suspect.
California Highway Patrol and the SLO County Sheriff’s Office assisted the Atascadero Police Department in the search.
The Atascadero Police Department Investigations Unit will continue to investigate the robberies.
This story was originally published September 26, 2021 at 11:19 AM.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reported the wrong day for the shelter in place. Police recommended a shelter in place for Atascadero on Sunday.
