The man arrested in a Carmel Valley armed robbery could be the "I'm Sorry Bandit," wanted in a series of gas station robberies around the city.
The suspect entered the Shell Station on Carmel Valley Road just before 8 p.m. Thursday, showed the clerk a gun and demanded cash, officers said.
The clerk told police the suspect drove off in a black Dodge Ram traveling eastbound on State Route 56.
Officers who were rushing to the scene of the robbery spotted a similar vehicle near Shoal Creek and Ted Williams Parkway.
They arrested the man and questioned him in connection with more than six recent robberies targeting gas stations in Kearny Mesa and Rancho Penasquitos.
Investigators dubbed the man wanted in the string of armed robbers as the “I’m Sorry Bandit.”
The name is linked to one interaction at a Clairemont Mesa crime scene. Officers say the suspect told a gas station clerk "I'm sorry to do this. Times are tough, not going to hurt anybody."
In all of the robberies, the suspect has been described as a man between 28 and 32 years old, between 5-foot-6 and 6-feet-tall. In many of the cases, the robber was wearing a white shirt, dark baseball cap and black pants. In some cases, he was also wearing gloves. He displayed a handgun every time, according to police.
