TUSTIN : Suspect Held in 14 Holdups of Florists

A man suspected of robbing 14 Orange County flower shops was arrested Monday after a holdup at Conroy’s Flowers on Newport Boulevard, police said.

Richard Samual Armijo, 43, a transient, was arrested as he walked out of the shop, Police Lt. H.D. Williams said.

Police put the florist shop at 13791 Newport Blvd., near 6th Street, under surveillance Monday because of a pattern of robberies at the chain’s stores, Williams said.

“It was just luck” that the store was robbed on the first day it was being watched, Williams said. “We were only out there about two hours.”

Police said Armijo was carrying a realistic-looking toy gun in his waistband when he was arrested without incident about 7:40 p.m.

Armijo showed the toy gun to a shop clerk and demanded money as officers outside watched, police said. No one was injured during the incident. About $70 was taken, police said.

“It’s amazing how many of these guys try to bluff cops with toy guns,” Williams said. He said the gun was a silver revolver, “the standard cowboy type you played with as a kid.”

He said Armijo is suspected of robbing 14 flower shops--most of them Conroy’s Flowers stores.

Armijo was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and taken to Orange County Jail. He has been convicted of similar robberies and is wanted for a parole violation in Santa Fe Springs, Williams said.