A 20-year-old man is behind bars after reportedly using social media apps to target victims he later held at gunpoint and robbed, authorities in Riverside County announced this month.
In a news release, authorities said deputies with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department responded to reports of an armed robbery in the 1200 block of Mount Shasta Street in Perris on Jan. 12 at around 5 p.m.
The suspect, later identified as 20-year-old Moreno Valley resident Adrian Henning, fled the scene before deputies arrived, with the victim telling investigators that they’d agreed to meet up on a popular social media sales app.
“When Henning and the victim agreed to meet to exchange the property, Henning took the property without paying and brandished a firearm,” the release detailed.
During their investigation into the incident, detectives learned that the 20-year-old reportedly used the same tactics during another robbery earlier the same day in the unincorporated area of Mead Valley.
“When the victim and Henning met, Henning attempted to take the victim’s property by force and fled the area,” authorities said.
RCSD’s Special Enforcement Team assumed the investigation and were able to locate the 20-year-old in Moreno Valley where he was taken into custody and booked into the Cois Byrd Detention Center for robbery, assault with a firearm, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and committing a felony while on bail.
The investigation into Henning remains ongoing and anyone with information is asked to contact RCSD Deputy McMorris at 951-776-1099 or RCSD’s Perris Station at 951-210-1000.
