Man Fires Gun While Trying To Snatch Purse From Elderly Woman In Chino Hills

CHINO HILLS (CBSLA) – A man was arrested for firing a gun while trying to rob an elderly woman in a Rite Aid parking lot in Chino Hills Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The robbery occurred at about 9:45 a.m. outside a Rite Aid in the 4200 block of Chino Hills Parkway. The suspect was identified as 22-year-old Jesus Valencia of Perris.

According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, Valencia tried to steal a woman's purse at gunpoint. When she refused to let it go, he fired one round into the ground and then sped away in a car.

The woman was not hurt.

As they were investigating, detectives learned that the same man was believed to have committed two prior armed robberies that same morning in Norco and Corona, the sheriff's department said, along with a fourth armed robbery in West Covina which occurred after the Chino Hills incident.

Later in the day, El Monte police located Valencia's car and pulled him over, the sheriff's department said. The car also had two female occupants. Officers also found a semi-automatic pistol which Valencia was suspected to have used in the robberies.

Valencia was taken into custody on suspicion of robbery and unlawful discharge of a firearm.