OXNARD : Man Arrested Over Theft, False Report

The reported victim of an armed robbery at an Oxnard fast-food restaurant was arrested Monday on suspicion of fabricating the crime to cover for his own theft of the money and a beating later at the hands of drug dealers, authorities said.

Timothy M. Conlon, assistant manager of the Burger King on South Ventura Road, told police that two men broke into his apartment early Thursday, held him at gunpoint and robbed him of his own money before taking him to the restaurant to empty the safe. Conlon told police that the robbers then pistol-whipped him in the face.

On Monday, detectives arrested Conlon, 29, on suspicion of burglary and filing a false report.

Police said he committed the crime to support a drug habit and had suffered the beating in a later confrontation with dealers.

Police said that the restaurant’s alarms had been properly set but were not triggered during the robbery, and that the safe had not been tampered with.