Armed robbery suspect nabbed after fingerprints check out

REDLANDS – A man suspected of robbing a Subway sandwich store in Redlands on Saturday was eventually captured after trying to rob a Blockbuster video store in Fontana.

Armed Robbery

Wahkeen Jermal Menefield Jr., 19, of Victorville, was taken into custody for attempted armed robbery, and is being held at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on a $350,000 bail ticket.

During the Redlands robbery, Menefield left a handprint on the counter he jumped over during the Saturday morning hold-up. He had displayed a semi-automatic handgun, leaped the counter, took money from the cash register and left on foot.

Police forensic specialists were able to retrieve a clear handprint and shoe prints from the counter. The handprint was matched to Menefield, who had been taken into custody by Fontana police after the armed robbery attempt at Blockbuster.

“In this instance, we sent the print to the sheriff’s crime lab and it came back identified to the suspect, who, at that time, was already in custody for the Fontana robbery,” said Redlands police spokesman Carl Baker. “I’m not sure what the turnaround is, but it’s not like it is on TV.”

Investigators in Redlands were further able to identify Menefield from surveillance video. One of the guns retrieved in the Fontana video store robbery also matched the description of a weapon used in the Redlands robbery.

Redlands and Fontana, connected by the Interstate 10 freeway, are 15 miles apart.