Police arrest San Marcos man accused in commercial armed robberies

VISTA (KUSI) – A San Marcos man was in custody Wednesday for allegedly carrying out a least a half-dozen North County commercial armed robberies since late last month.

According to police Lt. Greg Kogler, detectives arrested 37-year-old Alonzo Mora in the 1500 block of East Valley Parkway in Escondido Tuesday.

Mora allegedly entered small retail businesses during daylight hours, threatened employees with a pistol and stole money. 

Five of the heists occurred in Escondido, and one took place in San Marcos.

Plainclothes officers investigating a similar robbery that occurred in Vista this week found Mora inside a van near the Escondido Village Mall. He was arrested without incident, along with a female companion, 31-year-old Kenosha Knott of San Marcos.

Mora was booked into the county jail in Vista on suspicion of six counts of armed robbery and possessing heroin. He was being held on $605,000 bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Friday afternoon.

Police questioned Knott and decided that she’d had no involvement in the robberies, Kogler said. She was cited for possession of heroin and released on her own recognizance.