CLEARLAKE >> Police have arrested a Clearlake man for allegedly robbing the Jack in the Box located on Dam Road at gunpoint during the early hours of Tuesday.
The man, identified as 19-year-old Giovanni Madrigal-Rincon, was the subject of a five-hour search before his arrest near Travelodge Clearlake.
According to Clearlake Police Sgt. Rodd N. Joseph, the incident occurred at 1:51 a.m. when officers responded to a report of an armed robbery at the fast food joint. The suspect, masked and carrying a large loaded shotgun, had just forced two employees on their break to the front of the store while taking a third employee to a small safe located at a rear office by gunpoint. He then grabbed an undisclosed amount of money from the safe and fled the scene toward the McDonald’s parking lot, located right across.
Employees said they saw the male leave in a silver, four-door vehicle toward Highway 53.
“Thankfully, no shots were fired, and no one was injured during this violent take-over robbery,” Joseph said.
The initial investigation at the restaurant helped officers develop a possible suspect, leading to an investigation that stretched into the morning hours. A suspect vehicle was then under surveillance at a Clearlake residence, while other areas in the city and Lower Lake were checked.
Joseph said this is where “the investigation began to pick up momentum as officers began obtaining more and more information confirming the suspect’s likely identity.”
Then about 7:05 a.m., a CPD officer who had started his shift spotted the suspect vehicle, a 2001 silver Volvo, parked at the Travelodge Clearlake located at 4775 Old Highway 53. Numerous Clearlake Police Officers from both the graveyard shift as well as dayshift began setting a perimeter around the hotel. Officers worked with hotel management to identify a possible room but learned there was no record of the likely suspect staying at the hotel.
Minutes later, Madrigal-Rincon, with clothing and armed with a weapon resembling that of the robbery, and an unnamed female friend exited a room on the west side of the upper floor and confronted the officers. The suspect began manipulating the weapon at officers and resisted officers’ orders, Joseph explained.
The 19-year-old then jumped over the upper balcony, while still holding the shotgun, and ran toward a little league baseball field on Ball Park Avenue. During his flee, he dropped the weapon and surrendered to officers once at the ball field before officers could deploy a K-9 to apprehend him.
Madrigal-Rincon was then arrested and booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $300,000.
According to booking records, he was charged with several violent felonies including robbery, kidnapping, and assault with a deadly weapon.
The female friend was interviewed and subsequently released without charges, Joseph said. The money stolen from the safe has not yet been located.
“The Clearlake Police Department remains steadfast in its responsibility to apprehend violent offenders and bring them to justice,” Joseph said in a prepared statement. “Together we will continue to enhance the quality of life for all of our residents and visitors through the adherence to our core values.”
