Suspect arrested in string of desert bank robberies
Desert Hot Springs, California - On March 4th, 2008 Investigators from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department (Palm Desert and Indio Stations) received information from a citizen informant that a Steven Hagle of Las Vegas, Nevada was involved in the bank robberies and was staying at the Shilla Hotel in Desert Hot Springs.
The informant also said that the suspect was driving a Mercedes Benz. Investigators located a stolen Mercedes Benz, stolen from Arizona, in the parking lot of the hotel. Evidence linking Hagle to the valley robberies were located in the vehicle. Investigators authored a search warrant for the hotel room. As Investigators were monitoring the room where the suspect was believed to be, Hagle came out of the room and was taken into custody. A search of the room also recovered evidence linking him to the bank Valley robberies. Sheriff’s Investigators also worked with Detectives from the Palm Springs Police Department as one of the valley robberies occurred in Palm Springs.
The suspect is Steven Hagle, 32 years of Las Vegas. He was booked for three counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery (one in Rancho Mirage, one in La Quinta, one in Palm Springs and one attempted robbery in Palm Desert). Also arrested was a Shawn Manning, 40 years of Solano Beach, CA. Manning was in possession of evidence linking him to the involvement of the stolen Mercedes and was also out on bail from a previous arrest over the weekend. Manning was also charged as an accessory for each of the robberies.
This investigation is on-going as Hagle is suspected in other possible crimes/robberies in other states (Arizona and Nevada). Anyone with additional information related to these incidents should contact either the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Investigations Bureau at 836-1600 or the Indio Station Sheriff’s Investigations Bureau at 863-8990.