El Centro Police arrest armed robbery suspect at Imperial Valley Mall
Originally published May 19, 2021
by the El Centro Police Department
“El Centro: On Tuesday, May 18, 2021, at 1:48 p.m., officers from the El Centro Police Department responded to an in-progress armed robbery in the 3300 block of South Dogwood Road, at the Imperial Valley Mall. Callers reported a male had entered a business and threatened employees with a crow bar while demanding money. The suspect used a crow bar to break several glass display cases and removed jewelry.
The officers responded to the location and witnesses directed the officers to the area of the jewelry counter where they located the suspect. The suspect, later identified as Vicente Fernandez-Chavez (33 years old from Calexico, California), was standing near a jewelry display. The suspect was given verbal commands to drop the crow bar and he complied with officers verbal commands. He was taken into custody without incident and later booked at the Imperial County Jail on robbery charges. All the property during the robbery was recovered and returned to the store. Thankfully, there were no injuries to the store employees, customers, and our officers.”
