Police seek Chando’s pistol-whip robber as more taquerias in North Sacramento get held up
Sacramento police on Wednesday vowed to find the man who beat a Chando’s Tacos worker in a violent gunpoint robbery Monday night as officers appealed to the public for help.
“This coward used a firearm and struck a female employee twice in the head,” Officer Anthony Gamble, a Sacramento Police spokesman, told reporters at Sacramento Police Department headquarters.
“Our detectives are relentless. We have some of the best detectives in this country and they are working around the clock to bring him to justice,” Gamble continued. “It doesn’t matter how far you think you will go or how deep you hide — we will find you.”
And on Wednesday, new news that accelerated the search: Two more North Sacramento-area taquerias were hit in armed robberies late Tuesday. Gamble said a potential tie to the Chando’s stick-up “is something detectives are actively working as we speak to see if there’s a connection.”
Investigators don’t yet have their man, but they do have an image pulled from security video at the popular Arden Way spot in the moments just before 9 p.m. Monday: The gunman wore glasses and a bulky black hooded coat. The hands that pointed the firearm at the Chando’s cashier were covered with blue gloves to hide fingerprints.
“This person went into a family-owned business, robbed them at gunpoint, then used a firearm to strike an employee twice in the head. ... He needs to be brought to justice.”
Police say the robber demanded cash before pistol-whipping the woman with his weapon. Two other employees were in the taqueria but were unhurt.
Gamble said the man was their lone suspect. They know somebody knows who he is and where he is.
“We’re asking our community to do the right thing. Somebody knows who this suspect is. Somebody heard about it after the fact,” Gamble said. “This person knows who they are. Their family knows who they are and we’re asking them to come forward and do the right thing.”
The employee continues to recover from her physical wounds, said Chando’s owner Lisandro Madrigal, who was at the afternoon news conference. But, he said his employee’s emotional wounds will take longer to heal.
“I spoke with her family yesterday. I’m concerned about her emotional state. I want to give them their space,” Madrigal said following the briefing. “We’re all kind of shaken up. It’s concerning that this is happening — that we’re being targeted.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2024 at 11:10 AM.
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