Customer robs North Bay ride-hailing driver with BB gun: sheriff

( KRON ) — A 21-year-old man was arrested Saturday after authorities said he robbed a ride-hailing driver at gunpoint after reaching his destination in El Verano, west of Sonoma.

Sonoma County Sheriff's Office deputies responded at 9:45 p.m. to a report of a robbery near Riverside Drive and Kelsey Court. Authorities learned that a ride-hailing driver dropped off a customer who then went into a house and returned with a handgun.

The customer robbed the driver, taking a wallet and other items, the sheriff's office said. After the robbery, the driver ran away and dialed 9-1-1.

Arriving deputies located the victim's car and the suspect hiding in nearby bushes, authorities said. The suspect, identified as Christian Mendez Torres, 21, of Sonoma, ran from deputies but was ultimately caught and detained.

A handgun was located near where the Torres was hiding, and deputies determined it was a BB gun upon closer inspection. On Torres's person, he had the driver's wallet and other items, SCSO said.

Torres was arrested and booked into jail for felonies involving robbery, credit card theft and ID theft, and misdemeanor banding a replica gun. Bail was set at $100,000.

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