Arrest Made in Connection with Six 2013-2015 Perris Robberies

PERRIS – A 28-year-old  man was arrested in connection with multiple armed robberies in the city of Perris between 2013 and 2015. During each of the six robberies the suspect brandished a semi-automatic handgun and demanded money and/or other merchandise at each location prior to fleeing the location.

Video surveillance from some of the locations helped the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department but still they were unable to fully identify the suspect. During the final robbery on May 17, 2015, the suspect entered the Perris Buffet, located at 1675 Perris Boulevard. He showed the employee his handgun and demanded money. The suspect somehow suffered a head injury and was bleeding heavily as he left the scene while shooting back toward the employees who chased him. No one was injured as a result of the incident, but evidence was recovered.

Over a year later, in April 2016 the Perris Station’s Robbery/Burglary Suppression Team (BST) obtained information which linked Kalii Puletasi to the Perris Buffet robbery. Further investigations also linked Puletasi to the other five robberies.

Perris Station Detectives and BST obtained and executed a search warrant of two homes, one at 5500 block of Ackerfield Avenue in Long Beach and the other in the 15700 block of Skyridge Drive in Riverside.

Evidence linking Puletasi to all of the robberies was located in Long Beach. Suspect Puletasi attempted to flee the scene when a search warrant was executed at the Riverside location but was arrested and booked in the Riverside County Jail. He faces six counts of robbery and two counts of attempted murder and is being held in lieu of $1,600,000 bail.

Anyone with additional information regarding this investigation is encouraged to contact Deputy Ruben Martinez at the Perris Police Department by calling (951) 210-1000, or by email at PerrisStation@RiversideSheriff.org

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