Pair arrested after three shot, others robbed in weekend spree

Two men accused in an alleged crime spree that spanned the county last weekend — at least eight people were robbed at gunpoint and three of them were shot — pleaded not guilty Wednesday to attempted murder and other charges.

Eduardo Ibarra, 31, and Jonathan Evangelist Moreno, 29, are charged in San Diego Superior Court, and each faces two counts of attempted murder and nine counts of robbery. If convicted of all charges and allegations, they each face a potential sentence of up to life in prison.

Ibarra’s attorney declined to comment at this early stage of the case. The name of Moreno’s attorney was not immediately available.

The robbery victims included two men in their 60s at a San Diego park and a woman in Lemon Grove who’d recently flown in from China. Another victim was shot in Spring Valley, apparently after assailants discovered he had no money. San Diego police arrested the two suspects roughly an hour later. 

Police said the spree began Saturday around 11:10 p.m. when two men were shot in Dorothy Petway Park in Southcrest. Deputy District Attorney Melissa Vasel said the robbers “ripped the chains off them” before shooting the men.

According to San Diego police, one of the victims was shot in the stomach and the other was shot in the head and the chest. Police said their injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

After the park shooting, prosecutors alleged, the two defendants drove around looking for other victims. They allegedly robbed three more people in San Diego — a man and a woman near their home and a 20-year-old man walking to a 7-Eleven, who was pistol whipped, Vasel said.

The robbers made off with cash, wallets and headphones, she said.

The spree continued, with the next victims robbed around midnight in National City, according to authorities. National City police said two men in a car targeted victims in two armed robberies that occurred about four blocks apart.

“Ours were the armed robberies of pedestrians. No shots fired,” National City police Sgt. John McGough said.  He said at least one assailant was armed with a gun and allegedly pistol-whipped a victim.

Around 12:40 a.m., a woman and her daughter were robbed at gunpoint in Lemon Grove, Vasel said.

“The mom had just flown in from China and the daughter was about to take her to the hotel,” Vasel said. She said the robbers made off with a Louis Vuitton bag, passports and cash.

The last incident occurred in Spring Valley around 1 a.m. when a man was robbed at gunpoint on Grand Avenue and then shot in the leg.

“I think they opened the wallet and (one of the robbers) saw there was no money and so then he chambered a round and shot him,” Vasel said.

San Diego police located a vehicle they believed was used in the spree parked on Keeler Avenue. Authorities said the suspects were arrested as they came out of a taco shop shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday — an hour or so after the final robbery.

Vasel said police recovered 40mm and 9mm bullet casings at the Southcrest park shooting.

The prosecutor said police found weapons in the vehicle on Keeler. They also found property including cash, luggage and one victim’s passport.

The two men are being held in jail without bail.