Crime & Safety
Suspect In String Of Robberies In Agoura Hills, OC Pleads Not Guilty
The man is one of two indicted in an armed robbery spree at convenience stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties, including Agoura Hills.
AGOURA HILLS, CA — One of two men indicted in an armed robbery spree at convenience stores in the Southland pleaded not guilty Monday and was scheduled for trial in September.
Jesus Soto-Parada, 26, had been deported to el Salvador during the robbery spree, but later returned to the country and was found living in South Los Angeles, according to federal prosecutors. Soto-Parada was arrested June 13 with co-defendant Daniel Pavon, 20, a Honduran foreign national living in Gardena, who is in state custody waiting to be transferred to federal authorities to face charges, prosecutors said.
The eight-count grand jury indictment was filed June 26.
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Soto-Parada and Pavon and others allegedly robbed the businesses wearing surgical masks, demanding cash at gunpoint while others acted as lookouts, prosecutors alleged.
The robberies began Jan. 11 and included convenience stores in Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Pomona, Newport Beach, Agoura Hills and Gardena, prosecutors said. A total of $13,950 in cash and $7,415 in store goods were stolen, according to prosecutors.
