Fresno robbery suspect gives up after hours-long standoff. Is a homicide related?

UPDATE: A suspect in a robbery and carjacking surrendered to police after a nearly six-hour standoff Monday night at a Fresno residence, while detectives continue to investigate if there’s a connection to a deadly shooting discovered during the day.

Police took the man into custody just after 8 p.m. He was believed to be the person who committed the robbery and carjacking about 1:15 p.m. at the Cali Smoke Shop in a shopping center at Champlain Drive and Perrin Avenue in northeast Fresno.

“Information from a citizen ... led detectives to the apartment complex at 2445 E. Copper, where the (carjack) victim’s vehicle was located,” Fresno police Lt. Bill Dooley said in an update during the siege.

Dooley said that negotiators — backed up by a SWAT team — were able to get the suspect to give up peacefully.

There was no immediate word on what charges the man would face once booked into the Fresno County Jail.

Meanwhile, police declined to say how, if at all, a deadly shooting in the city may be connected other than that it was under consideration.

Police received a report of a body discovered at an apartment complex and a woman was found dead about 3:30 p.m. in the 9400 block of Saybrook Drive.

The woman was said to be in her 40s and had suffered an unknown number of gunshot wounds.

It was the 48th homicide of 2021 in the city.

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ORIGINAL STORY: Police are searching for a suspect who robbed a smoke shop at gunpoint then fled in a hijacked car in northeast Fresno.

Sgt. Diana Trueba Vega said the robbery happened at around 1:15 p.m. at Cali Smoke Shop in a shopping center at Champlain Drive and Perrin Avenue.

Police were told that the suspect enter the business and asked an employee to grab some items in the store. As the employee grabbed the merchandise, the suspect pulled out a gun and demanded they hand over the merchandise and money.

Witness told officers that the suspect then fled the business and attempted to carjack a parked vehicle in the parking lot. The driver was able to drive off, leaving the suspect behind.

The suspect then approached another person in the shopping center and demanded their car keys at gunpoint and fled the scene in the vehicle. The stolen vehicle was described as a white Nissan Altima.

Vega said the suspect was described as a 5-foot-8 man weighing between 180 and 200 pounds and wearing a gray shirt and gray shorts.

This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 4:17 PM.