CORONADO, Calif. — Police arrested a man accused of going on a crime spree in a Coronado park and ferry landing last Saturday including robbing almost a dozen victims and pistol-whipping a woman, authorities said.
Manuel Hernandez has been booked on 14 counts of robbery, according to Coronado police. The 19-year-old is accused of robbing nearly a dozen people and injuring three of his victims.
The robberies occurred at Centennial Park in Coronado and near the ferry landing last week, according to police.
It's not clear how Hernandez was tracked down or where he was arrested. He is being held at the Central Jail in Downtown San Diego.
The incident happened around 10:30 pm on Saturday, February 12, where police said a man approached a couple as they were seated on a bench in Centennial Park. The suspect pulled out a gun and demanded cell phones and valuables from the two people. The suspect then approached a group of five people on the other side of the park, pulled out a gun and took items from the victims, according to police.
Police said the suspect then headed towards the Ferry Landing parking lot where he encountered another victim. The suspect demanded valuables from the woman and pistoled-whipped her on the head an unknown number of times with the gun.
As the woman was being assaulted by the suspect, a group of three came across the woman being assaulted and the suspect then pointed the gun at this group and demanded valuables, police said.
Police said the group of five victims from the Centennial Park incident found the suspect at the Ferry Landing, a struggle ensued and the group was able to wrestle the gun away from the suspect, but the suspect got away in an unknown vehicle.
Patrol officers arrived on scene within 90 seconds of the 9-1-1 call, and a Chula Vista PD K-9 also responded to the call and were unable to locate the suspect. Two of the victims sustained minor injuries during the fight and were evaluated by medics on scene. The woman who was struck on the head was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to police.