Two
men have been arrested and charged with the aggravated robbery of
an EPCC employee at a Valle Verde campus parking lot on Sept 6.
David Rios Jr., 19, and Elias Lazarin, 20, were taken to the El Paso
County Jail on Sept. 7, where their bond was set at $9,000 each. 
Each received a $7,500 bond for aggravated robbery and a $1,500 bond
for possession of a weapon where firearms are prohibited.
The day after the alleged crime took place, El Paso police officer
Gilbert Aguirre noticed a black SUV on the 7600 block of North Loop
that matched the description given by the victim.
David Rios Jr.
Aguirre
detained the SUV and noticed that the driver matched the description
of the aggressor involved in the robbery report.
While the vehicle was detained, EPCC police officers were called to
the scene to do more investigating. They verified the driver was the
alleged assailant and took him to the county jail.
In the same part of town, the tactical unit from the EPPD Mission
Valley Regional Command located the other
perpetrator, who was detained by the EPCCPD.
The EPCC police detectives continued their investigation and obtained
voluntary confessions from both subjects. According to the EPCCPD,
some of the property that was taken from the victim was recovered
as was the weapon used in the crime.
The victim, who asked not be identified, is a VV employee who was
walking to her vehicle at the H parking lot near the campus daycare
center at approximately 1:30 p.m. She noticed a black SUV that had
parked close to her. One of the subjects exited and approached her.
The subject then demanded her purse and other possessions at gunpoint.
Elias
Lazarin
The
news of the alleged daytime robbery has left some a little shaken.
“I can’t believe it happened there, especially at that
time of the day,” said EPCC student Mari Zamora. “I don’t
like going out to the parking lot by myself now because I know it
can happen to anyone at anytime.”
EPCC police chief J.R. Grijalva confirmed that some employees and
students were feeling a bit uneasy.
“A lot of people were worried,” Grijalva said. “It
was very good that we captured them, but we were helped by the fact
that the victim did a good job remembering details about the robbers
and their vehicle.”
Another EPCC student, Ibukun Adpejou, feels the college population
may be outgrowing its police force. “We need to be careful,
and I think the school needs to increase security because it is getting
too big.”
Grijalva said the suspects were not EPCC students. No other information
was given on whether either suspect had any prior arrests. Grijalva
said there are no set court dates yet for the two suspects.
