Alleged Serial Robber Due In Court

A man accused in 78 robberies across Riverside County -- including the in Palm Desert -- is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on 250 additional counts, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Sergio Nicolas Lopez, who is due in court Friday in Murrietta, has already been charged and arraigned on one robbery count from a crime on April 29 in Indio. If convicted, Lopez could face 184 years in state prison.

The series of robberies happened over a six-month period from October 2010 to April 2011 and occurred at businesses throughout Riverside County.

The crimes were committed from Temecula to the Coachella Valley, with more than a dozen of the robberies happening in Hemet, according to John Hall of the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

The businesses targeted included primarily shoe or clothing stores, hair salons and barber shops, as well as sandwich and yogurt shops, Hall said. He also allegedly targeted the .

The last robbery in the series happened on April 29 at Anna’s Linens in Indio, but the suspect got away, he said. The suspect in that robbery was identified as Lopez.

On May 4, 2011 attempted to carjack two vehicles then successfully carjacked a vehicle, all from the same strip mall in Cathedral City.

Lopez, who was finally arrested on May 12, is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.