Man wearing Pennywise mask arrested for sexual battery in San Bernardino County, deputies say
Authorities say Joel Hernandez wore a Pennywise mask when he allegedly committed multiple crimes in Victorville.
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. - A Hesperia man is accused of terrorizing women in a Pennywise mask across the Inland Empire.
On Wednesday, the Victorville Police Department responded to a call from a bank on Amargosa Road in Victorville around 5:15 p.m. A 54-year-old woman told officers at the scene that a man wearing a white clown mask, resembling Pennywise from the hit horror novel and movie It, robbed her in the bank parking lot near an ATM.
As law enforcement officers drove to the bank, a man wearing a red sweatshirt matching the physical description of the suspect was spotted walking in the area. Authorities arrested the man, later identified as 22-year-old Joel Hernandez, without incident, according to a press release from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
As authorities investigated Hernandez, they learned that Hernandez was wanted in connection to a different crime. Minutes before robbing the woman, Hernandez allegedly sexually assaulted and groped a 50-year-old woman in a grocery store parking lot on Bear Valley Road. When authorities got a hold of the victim who was attacked in the grocery store parking lot, she "positively identified Hernandez as the suspect who sexual assaulted her," according to a press release from San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
Hernandez has since been arrested for robbery and sexual battery. He is being held on a $200,000 bond.
Now, authorities fear there may be more victims. Anyone with information on Hernandez is asked to call 760-241-2911.