[November 08, 2009] 5 arrested in string of armed robberies Tweet Nov 08, 2009 (The Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Officers from several Valley cities say they have put an end to a crime wave that involved armed robbers becoming more violent with each crime, a shootout between a suspect and a victim and the robbery of a Chandler jewelry store last month. As of late Thursday, police arrested five men in connection with a string of armed robberies that happened mostly at cellular phone stores throughout the Valley between Aug. 5 and Oct. 14, according to Phoenix police. Police arrested Andrew Bochinclonny, 29, Ishmael Lina, 23, Jocy Martinez, 26, Ruben Mendietta, 26, and Jose Solis, 21, on suspicion of armed robbery. Investigators credit swift arrests by Chandler police within five minutes after Nancy's Jewelry and Clothing Store, 1048 N. Arizona Ave., was robbed by two men who held two store employees at gunpoint while emptying out jewelry trays before fleeing in a pickup truck driven by another man. Those arrests included Martinez, who was released from an Arizona Department of Corrections prison in May for attempted first-degree murder; Bochinclonny, who was released from prison in May for robbery; and Mendietta. After the robbery, police spotted a pickup truck that fit the description of the getaway vehicle as it pulled into the parking lot of a nearby pawn shop, where they arrested two of the men and recovered most of the jewelry and the handguns used in the robbery, police said. To see more of The Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.eastvalleytribune.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Tribune, Mesa, Ariz. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]