Woodland Hills Man Arrested in 13 Robberies

Los Angeles police, aided by a helicopter, chased down an alleged “novice” robber in Chatsworth and arrested him in connection with 13 holdups of stores and banks, most in the west San Fernando Valley.

Gerald Reba, 35, of Woodland Hills was arrested Saturday night on suspicion of robbery and is being held at West Valley Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, Detective Ed Pikor said.

Reba is a suspect in two bank robberies, one in Simi Valley and another in Tarzana, as well as robberies of a clothing store, antique store, drug store and several supermarkets and fast-food restaurants from mid-March through last week, Pikor said. About $10,000 to $15,000 was taken in the robberies, police said.

Police allege that Reba wore disguises such as wigs and eyeglasses and pretended to hold a gun in his pocket. He targeted smaller stores in which the cash registers were secluded, and in which there was a female cashier, but he also held up a Thrifty Drug Store and Lucky supermarket where cash registers were in plain sight, Pikor said.

“Normally a bandit stays with one kind of store that he’s comfortable with,” the detective said. “This man hit everything. I think he was basically a novice at robbery.”

Reba became a suspect after a witness noted the license plate number of a car speeding away from a robbery Friday at an auto parts store in Canoga Park, Pikor said. Police then learned that Reba would be meeting someone Saturday night under the Simi Valley freeway at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and staked out the area.

When Reba spotted officers, he ran into a hilly area just off Topanga Canyon Boulevard, Pikor said. But a police helicopter spotted him, and he was quickly arrested.

Reba is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Van Nuys Municipal Court.