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A smartphone app assisted Pima County Sheriff’s deputies down two robbers on Firday night. Deputies with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department responded to a reported robbery at gunpoint of two female victims, ages 17 and 18, near Mexican Hat Drive and Coneflower Drive.
The women said that a dark colored SUV had approached them. The vehicle had a female driver and a male passenger. The male got out of the car and forced the victims to lay down on the ground at gunpoint. He then searched them and took a smartphone, a wallet and the victims’ identification from them. The suspects then left.
One of the victims contacted her brother and told him about the robbery. The brother activated an application installed on the smartphone in order to track its location. It was indicated that the phone was now located at 297 E. Benson Highway. The brother drove over to that location and found out it was a hotel, with the suspect vehicle parked on the property. The brother flagged down a South Tucson Police officer, and they were able to determine the specific hotel room where the phone was located.
Officers attempted to make contact at the suspect’s hotel room, but the door was not answered. A search warrant was obtained and due to the fact that the victims had described the suspects as being armed, the Pima Regional SWAT Team responded to the hotel. They forced entry into the suspect’s hotel room and detained a female and a male, later identified as Irene Garcia, age 23, and Daniel Morales, age 22.
Inside the hotel room, detectives found the victim’s smartphone, identification for one of the victims, a semi-automatic Colt .45 handgun, which was reported stolen to Tucson Police in 2006, as well as Marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The vehicle used by the suspects for the robbery had been reported to Tucson Police on December 20, 2012. The owner responded to the hotel, and property of his was located in the suspect’s possession as well.
Both, Garcia and Morales, were booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Center on charges of Armed Robbery, Aggravated Robbery, Theft of Means of Transportation, Possession of Marijuana for Sale and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Morales was also charged with Aggravated Assault.