A 23-year-old man is facing armed-robbery charges in connection with two gas-station hold-ups late last month on the South Coast, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
Federico Yepez, who has ties to both Santa Maria and Los Angeles, was arrested at about 1:15 p.m. Thursday by sheriff’s detectives and Santa Maria police officers, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Kelly Hoover.
Yepez was suspected of holding up the Turnpike Shell Gas Station near Santa Barbara shortly before midnight on Dec. 30, and robbing an AM/PM station in Carpinteria less than an hour later, Hoover said.
“In both cases, the suspect was armed with a small-caliber firearm and robbed the gas station attendee at gunpoint,” Hoover said.
Yepez was identified as the suspect in both robberies, and a warrant was obtained for his arrest, Hoover said.
He was spotted in Santa Maria, and taken into custody near Broadway and Donovan Road, she said.
Yepez was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on two counts of armed robbery, Hoover said.
The investigation is ongoing, she said, and anyone with information regarding the case is asked to call the sheriff’s Detective Bureau at 805.681.4150, or the anonymous tip line at 805.671.4171.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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