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Alfredo Alonzo-Hernandez
An armed robber pushed a Grass Valley convenience store clerk into a back room and tried to rape her, Grass Valley police said Monday.
The man suspected of robbing the Flyers gas station convenience store on Plaza Drive in Glenbrook Basin last week also is suspected of breaking in to the McDonald’s restaurant where he worked nearby, authorities said.
Police arrested 25-year-old Alfredo Alonzo-Hernandez while he was working at McDonald’s on Friday.
Alonzo-Hernandez was charged with robbery, assault with intent to commit rape, criminal threats and second-degree burglary with a weapons enhancement, Nevada County Assistant District Attorney Anna Ferguson said on Monday.
The suspect’s arraignment was continued until 8:30 a.m. today so he can be provided an interpreter, Ferguson said. Local authorities checking with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency found that Alonzo-Hernandez is an undocumented immigrant, she added.
Alonzo-Hernandez entered the Flyers store at 5:10 a.m. Friday and pointed a black pistol at a female clerk, Grass Valley police Sgt. Steve Johnson said.
The clerk was alone in the store at the time, police said.
Within seconds of Alonzo-Hernandez entering the store, “He pushed her (the clerk) back into the back room, where he tried to force himself upon her,” Johnson said. “She was able to resist and grab the gun to point it away from herself.”
The struggle spilled into the main portion of the store, where the suspect regained control of the pistol, but did not use it, Johnson said.
“He threatened the clerk as he was leaving” with several hundred dollars, Johnson said. “He told her that if she told anyone, he would kill her.”
The suspect reportedly ran out the door and across the street, where he managed to elude police dogs and authorities.
While authorities initially lost the suspect’s trail, they got a clear image of him from a video camera at the store. Late Friday, the investigation led back to the McDonald’s on Nevada City Highway, where Alonzo-Hernandez was working his shift.
Authorities allegedly found the pistol at the suspect’s Grass Valley residence.
Ferguson did not file armed robbery charges because the weapon turned out to be a BB gun.
After his arrest in connection with the Flyers robbery, Alonzo-Hernandez also was booked into the Nevada County jail on suspicion of burglarizing the restaurant in the early morning hours of Friday.
A McDonald’s worker discovered a door window broken out at 4:15 a.m. and then found the safe had been tampered with. Ferguson said several tools were used unsuccessfully to pry open the safe, including a hammer.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
The man suspected of robbing the Flyers gas station convenience store on Plaza Drive in Glenbrook Basin last week also is suspected of breaking in to the McDonald’s restaurant where he worked nearby, authorities said.
Police arrested 25-year-old Alfredo Alonzo-Hernandez while he was working at McDonald’s on Friday.
Alonzo-Hernandez was charged with robbery, assault with intent to commit rape, criminal threats and second-degree burglary with a weapons enhancement, Nevada County Assistant District Attorney Anna Ferguson said on Monday.
The suspect’s arraignment was continued until 8:30 a.m. today so he can be provided an interpreter, Ferguson said. Local authorities checking with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency found that Alonzo-Hernandez is an undocumented immigrant, she added.
Alonzo-Hernandez entered the Flyers store at 5:10 a.m. Friday and pointed a black pistol at a female clerk, Grass Valley police Sgt. Steve Johnson said.
The clerk was alone in the store at the time, police said.
Within seconds of Alonzo-Hernandez entering the store, “He pushed her (the clerk) back into the back room, where he tried to force himself upon her,” Johnson said. “She was able to resist and grab the gun to point it away from herself.”
The struggle spilled into the main portion of the store, where the suspect regained control of the pistol, but did not use it, Johnson said.
“He threatened the clerk as he was leaving” with several hundred dollars, Johnson said. “He told her that if she told anyone, he would kill her.”
The suspect reportedly ran out the door and across the street, where he managed to elude police dogs and authorities.
While authorities initially lost the suspect’s trail, they got a clear image of him from a video camera at the store. Late Friday, the investigation led back to the McDonald’s on Nevada City Highway, where Alonzo-Hernandez was working his shift.
Authorities allegedly found the pistol at the suspect’s Grass Valley residence.
Ferguson did not file armed robbery charges because the weapon turned out to be a BB gun.
After his arrest in connection with the Flyers robbery, Alonzo-Hernandez also was booked into the Nevada County jail on suspicion of burglarizing the restaurant in the early morning hours of Friday.
A McDonald’s worker discovered a door window broken out at 4:15 a.m. and then found the safe had been tampered with. Ferguson said several tools were used unsuccessfully to pry open the safe, including a hammer.
To contact Senior Staff Writer Dave Moller, e-mail dmoller@theunion.com or call 477-4237.
