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Man held in attempted robbery of gas station

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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

A Cathedral City man was arrested Friday on suspicion of robbery and other crimes after he ran into a gas station store at Casino Morongo wielding a tennis racket and shouting that he was robbing the store and had an Uzi assault rifle, authorities said.

Ernesto Martinez, 20, pointed the tennis racket as if it were a gun, said he planned to kill everyone inside and burn the store down, then set a sheet of paper on fire, authorities said. Morongo security officers took the tennis racket from him and handcuffed him.

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