Rocklin armed robbery suspects arrested hours later in Bay Area, sheriff’s officials say

A man and woman suspected of involvement in a Jan. 8 Rocklin robbery were arrested in the Bay Area just a few hours after the incident, Placer County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday in a news release.

Alyssa Peterson, 19, of Texas, and Michael Palmerin, 30, of Oregon, were arrested and booked at the South Placer Jail after Placer County detectives identified and followed the pair to Contra Costa County following the robbery, according to the release.

The incident started that morning on Cincinnati Avenue, an industrial part of Rocklin, where the victim had arranged to buy a car from a supposed seller. Instead, the man was robbed of his cash at gunpoint, with two suspects fleeing in a black Audi, the release said.

With the help of “very specific details” about the suspects provided by the victim and with assistance from Contra Costa sheriff’s deputies, detectives located Palmerin in a Bay Area parking lot and arrested him within three hours of the robbery, the release said.

Peterson was then pulled over while driving the Audi and detectives found the money in the vehicle, authorities said. A loaded handgun was later found in the parking lot in which Palmerin was found.

Peterson and Palmerin were each charged with armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. Palmerin additionally faces a firearms charge, and had been wanted on a Sacramento County warrant issued earlier in January for recklessly evading arrest.

Peterson is being held in Placer County jail in lieu of $200,000 bail.