COALINGA, Calif. (KMPH) -
Surveillance video shows what police believe is a group of crooks with their eyes set on Valley hotels.
In the video, you can see one jumping the counter at the Fairfield Inn in Kingsburg Sunday night and snatching the cash drawer.
Police believe they're also responsible for the same kind of armed robbery at the Holiday Inn in Selma about ten minutes earlier.
And on Monday night, the list of hotels grew by five, with robberies in Patterson, two in Santa Nella, Firebaugh and at the Travelodge in Coalinga.
"Kind of scared because we are alone," Esmeralda Precido, front desk clerk at the Travelodge in Coalinga, said.
The robbery in Coalinga went down pretty much the same way as those in Selma and Kingsburg.
Esmeralda says two men and one woman came in the office, one person jumped the counter, another went through the door.
They went into the office and took whatever they could get their hands on.
"It was just like open windows, open doors," she said, going on to describe the scene as chaotic.
The Travelodge in Coalinga sits right next to the I-5.
Having easy access to freeways and a quick getaway is something all of the hotels that have been robbed recently have in common.
"This is the freeway. There are a lot of people around," Precido said. "I mean it's our job, we have to work."
Not even 12 hours after the Travelodge was robbed, Esmeralda says they've already made some changes, including moving stuff around to make it more difficult for crooks to get to the cash drawer and using the night window more.
"We didn't open the night window too much because he was not really worried about that. After last night we have to. It's pretty dangerous," Precido said.
Fresno County Sheriff's Deputies are asking for your help in finding the thieves.
They don't have much to go on as far as what they look like.
But in several of the robberies, the witnesses said the two men and woman drove off in a small, white or silver colored Dodge Stratus or Dodge Avenger.
If you have any information, you're asked to call the sheriff's office at 559-488-3111.
