Armed Robbery Suspect Hospitalized After Pursuit Pleads 'Not Guilty'

BLYTHE, CA — A 29-year-old man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of robbing a gas station at gunpoint, striking a woman in the parking lot and carjacking her vehicle.

Aaron Michael Delatorre was charged with two counts of assault with a gun and one count each of carjacking, taking a vehicle without the owner's consent and robbery, according to court records.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges at the Larson Justice Center in Indio Wednesday afternoon.

Officers responded at around 10 p.m. Friday to a gas station near East Hobsonway and North Intake Boulevard in Blythe to reports of a man with a gun in the area, according to the Blythe Police Department.

Police said Delatorre allegedly robbed the gas station at gunpoint, struck a woman with the muzzle of a shotgun and carjacked her vehicle in the parking lot.

As officers were investigating, Delatorre allegedly drove back to the gas station in the stolen vehicle and then quickly fled from the scene when officers approached him, according to police. A vehicle pursuit was initiated and minutes later, Delatorre drove off an embankment into the Colorado River.

Delatorre was safely removed from the river after over an hour by officers from the police department, the California Highway Patrol and members from the police department's Drone Unit, police said. He sustained serious injuries and was subsequently air lifted to the Desert Regional Hospital in Palm Springs for treatment.

At around 4 p.m. Saturday, Delatorre was released from the hospital and was arrested by Palm Springs Police Department officers.

He was booked into the Southwest Detention Center in Murrieta, where he was being held on $135,000 bail, according to inmate records.

Anyone with information on this incident was asked to call the Blythe Police Department at 760-922-6111 or Crime Stop anonymously at 760-921- 2273(CARE).