Sesame St’s Elmo helps cops nab robbery suspects

HEMET — A brightly-colored red sweatshirt, complete with a laughing Elmo character, helped police officers investigating a strong-arm robbery locate and identify two alleged robbery suspects, Thursday morning, Dec. 6. Yesterday morning’s robbery happened on the 100 block of S. Buena Vista St., between Florida and Kimball avenues.

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Hemet police officers were first alerted to the robbery about 9:00 a.m., when city emergency dispatchers received a report of a robbery that had just occurred. The 911 caller described to officers that one of the two suspects was wearing a red sweatshirt with a picture of Elmo on the front.

When officers arrived at the scene they learned a male and female had approached the victim, punched the person in the face, and made off with the victim’s cell phone. The two suspects were last seen riding away from the area on black bicycles with the victim’s property.

Officers converged on the area and began searching for the pair, eventually locating them a few blocks away on E. Florida Ave. at Ramona St. One of the pair was still wearing the red Elmo sweatshirt, officers later reported.

During a subsequent search, officers discovered the two were still in possession of the stolen phone, which officers recovered and later returned to the victim, who reportedly suffered minor injuries but did not require hospitalization.

Based on their investigation, officers arrested 23-year-old, Hemet resident, Sharice Tashay Williams, and her 15-year-old, male accomplice. Officers also confiscated the distinctive Elmo sweatshirt as evidence. Officials did not specify how or if the alleged robbery suspects were related.

The juvenile, whose name was not released due to his age, had an active arrest warrant for a previous theft charge and will also face a new robbery charge for yesterday’s incident, Hemet PD later reported.

Hemet PD’s investigation is ongoing any anyone who witnessed this incident or who believes they may have been victimized by Williams and her teen accomplice is encouraged to contact Hemet PD at (951) 765-2400. Callers can refer to incident file number 18-11827 and can remain anonymous.

Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, 47, moved last year to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle, and Anza Valley Outlook; as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.

Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.

Trevor has been married for more than 28 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 15 – but soon to be 16 – grandchildren.