Armed men used prior resident's key to rob Clovis apartment, police say

Five people were arrested after police say they plotted to rob an apartment and stole thousands of dollars worth of items and cash earlier this month.

KFSN logo
Thursday, December 24, 2020
Armed men used prior resident's key to rob Clovis apartment, police say
Police say they took the victim's designer clothing and shoes, 1,400 marijuana vape pens worth around $64,000 and cash.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Five people were arrested after police say they plotted to rob an apartment and stole thousands of dollars worth of items and cash earlier this month.

Clovis police say Brianna Houston, 19, was a former tenant who lived in an apartment unit on Clovis Avenue and Santa Ana Avenue. She gave five men the key to the place so they could rob the current resident.

On December 11, the men went into the apartment and tied up the person living inside. Four of the suspects were armed with semi-automatic weapons.

Police say they took the victim's designer clothing and shoes, 1,400 marijuana vape pens worth around $64,000 and cash.

Detectives arrested Jaan Pinedo, 18, Angel Ramirez, 18, John Searless, 19, and Jonathan Simmavong, 22. They also found the stolen items and recovered the zip ties and weapons used during the robbery.

Officials say investigators are expecting to arrest a fifth man in the next few days.

Pinedo, Ramirez, Searless and Smmavong were charged with robbery, kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault with a firearm and conspiracy.

Officials say Houston was also arrested and faces robbery, conspiracy and false imprisonment charges.