Police arrested a Hollister man Jan. 12 who is accused of robbing a Morgan Hill eyeglasses store and lounge at gunpoint on Christmas Eve, according to a press release. The same suspect is allegedly responsible for similar crimes in neighboring communities.
Morgan Hill Police, assisted by agents from the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team, conducted surveillance and follow-up investigation on the suspect, Matthew Aaron De La Rosa, in Hollister. De La Rosa was located with his girlfriend, Christy Aguirre, 44 of Hollister, on Jan. 12. Aguirre was arrested by the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office on suspicion of multiple unrelated offenses.
Detectives executed a search warrant at De La Rosa’s home, which he shared with Aguirre, police said. During the search, police found evidence that tied him to the Christmas Eve robbery in Morgan Hill, as well as another robbery in Monterey.
Police questioned De La Rosa after his arrest, and he confessed to a total of six armed robberies—in Morgan Hill, Sunnyvale, Monterey, Seaside, San Jose and Capitola, according to MHPD. He was booked at Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of multiple armed robbery charges.
On Dec. 24, 2017, De La Rosa entered EYEfiniTEA Optique & Lounge, 15700 Monterey Road. Wearing a surgical mask, the suspect looked around for a few minutes, selected two sets of eyewear and approached the counter as if he was going to pay for the merchandise, police said.
Once the clerk appeared behind the counter, De La Rosa lifted his shirt to display a handgun in his waistband, according to authorities. He then demanded money from the cash register and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash and the eyewear.
The Morgan Hill Police investigation led officers to identify the suspect. MHPD released photos of De La Rosa to other nearby law enforcement agencies, some of which determined the same suspect had committed similar crimes in their jurisdictions, according to Morgan Hill police.
