KTLA

Man robbed at gunpoint while trying to buy Xbox in Riverside County: Sheriff’s Department

Brian Lee Craig, shown in this photo provided by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, is accused of a Dec. 29, 2022, robbery.

One man has been arrested and two other people are being sought after a robbery at gunpoint in Riverside County Thursday night.

Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies responded just before 8 p.m. Thursday night after a man reported that he had been robbed while attempting to buy an Xbox, the department said in a news release.

When the victim got into a vehicle with who he thought was the seller of the game console, the driver and two other men were inside.

After the victim handed over the money for the console, one of the passengers in the back “cycled the action of an illegal short barrel rifle to load the gun,” then threatened to shoot the victim in the head, officials said.

The victim got out, and though the culprits drove off, deputies “utilized public safety cameras” to find the car within an hour, the release said.

When the car was located at a gas station in the 8400 block of Indio Boulevard in Indio, only the driver, 19-year-old Brian Lee Craig of Indio, was inside.

Craig was detained, and after procuring a search warrant, deputies found the illegal rifle and “narcotics packaged for sales,” the release said.

Craig is being held at the John Benoit Detention Center in lieu of $500,000 bail, and jail records show he faces five felony charges: possession for sale of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance with a firearm, criminal conspiracy, second-degree robbery and carrying a loaded firearm during the commission of a felony.

He is due to appear at the Indio Larson Justice Center on Wednesday.

The other two robbers have not yet been identified.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Deputy John Mitroff at 760-285-0615.