Edinburg police investigating a 27-year-old Alamo man over allegations he violently raped a woman twice also accuse him of robbing the same gas station two times over four days in late May.
Police arrested Miguel Lechuga on July 2 and charged him with aggravated robbery, two counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of aggravated robbery. He remains jailed on a total of $425,000 in bonds, records show.
According to probable cause affidavits, investigators allege he robbed the Xoom/Stripes store at 1606 E. Richardson on May 24 and May 28 after a woman made an outcry about the rapes to investigators. Information learned through the sexual assault investigation led authorities to believe that Lechuga was also a suspect in the robberies, which occurred in the early morning hours.
The first robbery happened at 3:38 a.m., according to the charging document, which states that a clerk told responding police that a man wearing a “white medical type of mask,” black hat and striped shirt walked into the store and asked for a pack of cigarettes.
“(The clerk) will testify that when he handed the male the cigarettes the male pulled out a purple/pink handle knife with his right hand and demanded all the money from the register which totaled $108 dollars,” the affidavit stated.
Then, investigators say Lechuga left the store, running across the road.
Days later, on May 28, Edinburg police again responded to the same gas station. This time at 1:27 a.m.
The clerk told a familiar story to investigators.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Lechuga asked for a pack of Camel Crush cigarettes and leaned over to the clerk and said, “I don’t want to take out my knife, give me the money from the register,” the probable cause affidavit stated.
Authorities say Lechuga ran off with $30.
