Robberies, botched carjacking lead to Norco arrest

November 17, 2020 Trevor Montgomery

JURUPA VALLEY, Calif. — A series of back-to-back crimes, including a theft, robbery and attempted carjacking committed along Hidden Valley Parkway in Norco led to the arrest of a man who fled on foot from responding deputies Monday morning, Nov. 16. Despite fleeing from deputies, the alleged suspect was quickly apprehended and arrested.

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Norco Deputies were first alerted to a reported petty theft from a convenience store in the 100 block of Hidden Valley Parkway around 8:30 a.m., Riverside Sheriff’s Sergeant Ronald Smith later said of the incident and arrest.

While deputies were searching the area for the suspect, an unrelated call reporting a robbery and carjacking with the same suspect description given came in from another convenience store just a short distance away, in the 400 block of Hidden Valley Parkway.

“The reporting party stated the suspect had just robbed the convenience store and the two female employees of their belongings,” Smith reported; adding, “The suspect had taken car keys from one of the female victims by force and was actively trying to steal her vehicle.”

However, although the suspect had forcefully taken the victim’s car keys, “he was inadvertently trying to steal the wrong vehicle with the keys he had taken from her,” Smith described.

As a deputy arrived at the scene of the second incident, the suspect; since identified as Paul Martinez, 48, of Los Angeles, spotted the deputy approaching and fled on foot from the vehicle.

“After a foot pursuit of the suspect he was detained without incident,” said Smith.

Paul Martinez, of Los Angeles, was arrested after stealing from a convenience store, then robbing another convenience store and taking the female employees’ personal belongings and car keys, and then trying to carjack the wrong vehicle. RSO booking photo

Based on their subsequent investigation, deputies arrested Martinez and he was booked into Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on suspicion of two counts of robbery, resisting arrest and attempted carjacking.

Online jail records indicate Martinez remains in custody in lieu of $60,000 and is scheduled to be arraigned at Riverside’s Hall Of Justice Nov. 18.

Anyone with information on this case is encouraged to call Deputy Saif Alobaidi at the Norco Sheriff’s Station by calling (951) 270-5673. Callers can refer to incident file number G203210009 and can remain anonymous.

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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, (the now defunct) Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; 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 30 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 18 grandchildren.