Property crimes detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office have booked two Fresno men into the Fresno County Jail on multiple felony counts of robbery and burglary.
The suspects are 28-year old Robert Davis and 22-year old Joseph Islas. These arrests were made due to a joint investigation conducted between detectives at the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and Fresno Police Department.
At approximately 11:45 am on June 15th, sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of an armed robbery at Grant Market, located at 6945 W. Shields Ave. Two men entered the store and demanded the clerk give them cash. Both men wore clothing around their face in an attempt to disguise their identity and one suspect held a handgun. The suspects took money from the cash register and lottery scratchers, then fled the scene. This particular robbery was similar to several other robberies that have occurred the last few weeks in the city of Fresno.
Lead detective, Tim Juarez, notified the California Lottery Commission of the serial numbers on the scratchers that were stolen. Approximately an hour after the robbery, the Lottery Commission informed our detective that some winning tickets with matching serial numbers were cashed at several different convenience stores in Fresno. Crime Scene Unit technicians with the Sheriff’s Office collected a fingerprint off a scratcher, which ultimately identified Robert Davis. Davis is currently under Post-Release Community Supervision, which is part of AB109. As a condition of his probation, Davis has to wear a GPS monitor on his ankle. Tracking this device helped agents with the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force find Davis’ location and he was subsequently arrested.
During the investigation, detectives also obtained video surveillance, which identified a car driven by Joseph Islas. Deputies and officers located it on the street, conducted a traffic stop on the car and Detective Juarez arrested Islas. Crime Scene Unit technicians later found scratchers with Islas’ fingerprints on them as well.
This continues to be an on-going investigation.
If anyone has any information about recent liquor store robberies occurring in Fresno County or the city of Fresno, please contact the Sheriff’s Office at (559) 600-3111 or Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP (7867).
