Gilroy
– Police arrested a man who robbed a convenience store Wednesday
night using what turned out to be a fake gun.
It is unknown whether the man in custody, Rick Schmitz, was
involved in any of roughly dozen armed robberies that have occurred
at Gilroy businesses since October.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Police arrested a man who robbed a convenience store Wednesday night using what turned out to be a fake gun.
It is unknown whether the man in custody, Rick Schmitz, was involved in any of roughly dozen armed robberies that have occurred at Gilroy businesses since October.
Schmitz, 32, a transient, robbed Quik Stop Market at 8400 Church St. about 10:30pm, police said. He entered the store wearing a ski mask, pointed a replica handgun at the store clerk and demanded money from the register, said Gilroy Police Sgt. Kurt Svardal. He stole about $185 cash.
Schmitz fled the store on foot as Gilroy police began to search for him, assisted by California Highway Patrol and Santa Clara County Sheriff’s officers, concentrating on nearby Las Animas Veteran’s Park.
Officers found Schmitz hiding in the park. He had apparently removed some of his outer layer of clothing, including a jacket, in an attempt to conceal his identity, police said. His clothing and the replica handgun seen during the robbery were recovered in the park.
After an extensive search, however, police could not find the $185.
Schmitz was arrested on suspicion of three felonies – armed robbery, a felon in possession of a firearm, and theft with prior convictions – and a misdemeanor, being under the influence of a controlled substance.
He is being held in Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
Gilroy police will continue to investigate whether Schmitz was involved in any other recent armed robberies.
“That’s something detectives are still working on,” Svardal said. “I don’t even know if they have an opinion on that, yet it is certainly something they’re looking at.”
The Gilroy Police Department in late January announced it was offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect who committed a number, or all, of the robberies that have occurred since October.
A black handgun was reportedly used in all of the incidents, and a Jan. 13 robbery turned violent when the suspect struck a store clerk with the gun, on the left side of the clerk’s head. Some victims have described the man as Hispanic, although he often covered his face with a ski mask, and wore gloves.
Detectives will look at surveillance footage from some of the previous robberies to see if the ski mask looks like the one Schmitz was wearing Wednesday night, Svardal said.
Other recent robberies include Cheers Liquor Market on Monterey Street, Discount Cigarette & Wireless on Weyland Lane – which both also occurred in January – Flor de Jalisco on Lewis Street and Tassos Old House restaurant on First Street.
The string of robberies started with an incident, involving two suspects, at Bank of the West on Monterey Street in October. The Bank of America branch on Monterey Street was robbed early this month.
A robbery at Qwik Mart on Westwood Drive Jan. 17 involved four suspects: One man entered the store and took a case of beer without paying, while three other suspects waited outside. The men punched a store employee who followed the first suspect out of the store.
Anyone with information about these incidents may contact Gilroy police at 846-0350.
