VENTURA : 2 Men Arrested After Vons Holdup
A man with a gun held up a Ventura grocery store Wednesday afternoon, but had the money for only about seven minutes, a police spokesman said.
Juan Venegas, 48, was arrested at 3:55 p.m. in connection with the robbery of an unknown amount of cash from a Vons grocery store at 6120 Telegraph Road, the spokesman said.
Also arrested in connection with the holdup was Heliberto Sarmiento Navarro, 26, of Santa Paula, who police said drove the getaway car.
Investigators said Venegas walked into the store at 3:48 p.m. with a .45-caliber automatic pistol and forced the manager to open the store’s safe. After obtaining the money, Venegas and Navarro fled in a Cadillac sedan, but were spotted minutes later on Thompson Boulevard near Hurst Avenue, the spokesman said.
Police said no injuries were reported in the robbery, and would not say whether any of the store’s customers were aware of it. Vons employees refused to comment on the incident.
Both men were being held in County Jail on Tuesday evening in lieu of $20,000 bail.
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