Three arrested after armed taco truck robbery

Salinas police over the weekend arrested three people who were allegedly involved in an armed robbery of a taco truck.

At 4:35 p.m. Saturday, officers were dispatched to the corner of Sun and Commission streets following a report of the robbery.

According to police, 33-year-old Raymond Cardenas and 30-year-old Jose Velasco approached the truck. Cardenas waited outside while Velasco went into the truck and pointed a handgun at a victim. He then demanded money and struck the victim on the back of the head with the gun, police said.

Both suspects fled with an undisclosed amount of money, then got into a vehicle driven by 24-year-old Virginia Espinoza, police said.

Witnesses gave police descriptions of the suspects and their vehicle, which an officer spotted three hours later traveling on North Main Street and Navajo Drive.

Cardenas and Espinoza were stopped and arrested, then booked into Monterey County Jail on suspicion of armed robbery, false imprisonment, possessing a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy, police said. Velasco was not in the vehicle.

At 8:20 p.m. Sunday, officers found Velasco driving on North Main Street near Navajo Drive. When officers pulled him over, he pulled into a parking lot and immediately fled on foot across North Main Street near Alvin Drive, police said.

As he fled, Velasco allegedly tossed a firearm, which turned out to be stolen. He was apprehended a short distance away and arrested without incident on suspicion of the same offenses as Cardenas and Espinoza, police said.

Velasco was also booked into Monterey County Jail. His bail was set at $750,000, police said.