CALIFORNIA—Nelson Enrike Ramirez, 40, has been charged with being involved with a series of robberies within the Bay Area, federal prosecutors said in a news release.

One of the robberies that the complaint said Ramirez committed was at a 7-Eleven on Washington Boulevard in Fremont on November 6, 2020.

According to the authorities, Ramirez entered the 7-Eleven wearing a black or grey inside-out hooded sweatshirt, a black COVID-19-style mask, and grey gloves.

“In many robberies, Ramirez brandished or pointed what appeared to be a black semiautomatic handgun at the clerk, but was potentially a replica firearm made of rubber,” said the complaint on the Department of Justice’s website.

Ramirez told the clerk in the 7-Eleven robbery that he “needed a soda from the soda machine and as the clerk approached to help, Ramirez pulled what appeared to be a black handgun from his pocket,” said the news release.

The authorities said the clerk provided Ramirez $200 from the cash register then Ramirez “looked in another register,” and subsequently left the convenience store.

The complaint indicated that Ramirez “would ask for a specific amount of money” in many of the robberies, such as $200, before “brandishing what appeared to be a firearm” and then would regularly “demand” the clerk to open the cash register.

The complaint noted that “During most of the robberies, Ramirez apologized to the clerk and said that he needed money because he had a sick child at home.”

When the authorities found Ramirez, the complaint said the authorities found a “black replica firearm” inside his vehicle, and a second replica firearm was located at his residence.

Once the authorities apprehended Ramirez, he told the investigators that “he has no children,” the complaint indicated.

“In approximately five of the robberies (including both attempted robberies), according to the police reports, the victim did not report any reference to anyone being sick. In approximately two of the robberies, Ramirez stated he needed money because he was sick, and in approximately three other robberies, Ramirez stated that he needed money because someone else was sick, without referring to a child,” said the complaint.

Ramirez allegedly went to Fremont, Newark, Hayward, Union City, Campbell, Milpitas, Mountain View, Los Altos, and Sunnyvale, to commit a string of robberies, according to the complaint.

Ramirez has been charged with one count of robbery affecting interstate commerce, which the authorities said carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a possible fine of at least $250,000.