Epress.am News from Armenia
Law enforcement agencies from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo County are investigating a string of commercial burglaries at CVS pharmacies that ended Thursday in Pismo Beach with the arrest of two people, reports Lompoc Record.
Pismo Beach police officers arrested Darney Romero, 24, of San Fernando, one of two people they witnessed breaking into the CVS pharmacy on Oak Park Boulevard just after 3:30 am.
The second suspect — Armond Abramian (pictured), 33, of Glendale — was able to evade arrest but was taken into custody in Pismo Beach on Thursday afternoon.
The suspects are believed to have committed similar heists at pharmacies in Ventura and Buellton before their botched attempt in Pismo Beach, according to Pismo Detective Steve Weir. Their main target appeared to be cartons of cigarettes, police said.
The burglaries were the latest in a series of thefts that Weir said reach all the way into the Los Angeles area over the past month. He said LAPD had issued alerts prior to Thursday morning’s burglaries, describing approximately 30 similar incidents throughout Southern California.
“There’s the potential that he’s involved in those cases, too,” Weir said of Abramian. “We think he may have potential ties to an Armenian group down in LA.”
Less than a half-hour after Pismo received the alert, a patrol officer witnessed two people in a Mercedes Benz cruise through the parking lot of the Oak Park Heights Shopping Center and then stop outside the entrance to CVS.
Abramian pried open the door to the store, went in and began filling a plastic bin with cartons of cigarettes, police said.
When officers moved in, Romero took off in the getaway car, and Abramian fled on foot. Police were able to stop the car on Highway 101 after a short pursuit.
Abramian initially evaded capture, but was arrested later in the day.