Two Ukiah robberies lead to arrest

A Ukiah man was in jail Tuesday morning, suspected of two armed robberies, police said.

Mark Anthony Magana, 26, was arrested late last week after an investigation pointed to him as the suspect who held up a Rite Aid and a liquor store earlier this month, Ukiah police said.

Police suspect he went into the South State Street Rite Aid at about 2 p.m. ?Feb. 3, wearing dark clothes, sunglasses and a medical or dust mask. Magana, who is homeless, handed a note to a pharmacy clerk and demanded narcotics, saying he was armed, police said. He left the store after he was given drugs.

Officers also suspect Magana three days later walked into the Ukiah Liquor and Food on Washington Avenue, where he placed some items on the counter and then pulled out a gun and ordered the clerk to hand over money, police said.

Magana was found in Yuba County and arrested by Marysville police on a warrant from Ukiah.

A search of the suspect’s car and motel room turned up items connecting him to the robberies, police said.

Magana was returned to Ukiah and booked into Mendocino County Jail on $300,000 bail.