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Four Arrested for Armed Robbery of Area Shops

Group Charged with Sticking Up Cigar Empire, Spudnuts

Thursday, December 4, 2008
By Drew Mackie (Contact)

A police investigation of two robberies on Tuesday, December 2, resulted in the arrest of four Imperial Valley men.

Police initially arrived at the Cigar Empire store at 3621 State St. around 11 a.m. on Tuesday after the owner claimed he had been robbed. According to the owner, three young men came into the shop, looked around, and then left. Shortly thereafter, one returned and gathered items that he presumably intended to buy. When he approached the owner, however, he produced a handgun from the waistband of his pants and demanded money. The suspect then left the store with the merchandise and about $400 in cash.

While officers were on scene at Cigar Empire, they were approached by the owner of the 3629 location of the Spudnuts donut shop. This woman said she had been robbed at 5:30 that morning. According to her, a young man who had ordered a dozen donuts had also exposed a gun tucked into his waistband. With the donuts and about $10 cash in his hands, the man left toward the Traveler’s Motel at 3222 State St.

Offers then investigated the hotel and saw two men who matched the description given by the Cigar Empire owner. The men were followed some distance away from the motel and arrested, and soon a third was arrested as well. These men claimed that the fourth member of their party was still in the motel room. Police waited outside the motel room and, when the fourth man exited, he too was arrested.

After obtaining a search warrant for the motel room and a vehicle belonging to one of the men, police found a firearm and clothing that matched the description of what the robbery victims described to police. They also found the merchandise stolen from Cigar Empire, approximately $150, and a half-eaten donut.

The names of the four men arrested on charges of robbery are Edwin Orellana, 18; Oscar Orlando Panduro Gomez, 21; Kevin Oey Widarma, 19; and Eleazar Torres, age 20.

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