Man arrested after Riverside robbery and pursuit could be linked to O.C. fast-food robberies, police say

Authorities are trying to determine whether an armed-robbery suspect arrested after a short police pursuit in Riverside that ended in a crash and brush fire Thursday is responsible for a series of recent fast-food robberies in Orange County.

Police received a call about 4:30 p.m. reporting an armed robbery at the Carl’s Jr. at 10010 Magnolia Ave., Riverside Police Department spokesman Ryan Railsback said.

Officers saw a car believed to have been used in the robbery about three or four miles from the restaurant and pulled it over.

Two men were inside the vehicle, and the driver matched the description of the Carl’s Jr. robber, police said.

After the passenger got out of the vehicle, the driver started the car and drove away, Railsback said.

Police pursued the vehicle as the passenger ran off. He has not been found.

The driver went off a small embankment and crashed about three miles from where the pursuit began, Railsback said.

The driver ran from the vehicle, which caught fire a short time later.

Police caught the driver, who is suspected not only of the Carl’s Jr. robbery but also a robbery July 20 in Riverside, Railsback said. He was not immediately identified.

The car fire burned about a half-acre of brush near the intersection of Mountain House and Kingdom drives before it was extinguished by Riverside firefighters.

Authorities gathered enough evidence to call Orange County authorities and suggest they investigate whether the same man is responsible for a string of armed robberies of fast-food restaurants there, Railsback said.

Those include robberies in Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach and four in Fountain Valley.

Garden Grove police asked the public for help this week in finding a man who robbed seven businesses in 11 days.

Police provided images of the man sought in those robberies.