SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Five Arrested in ‘Thrill’ Robberies of Supermarkets
Two men and three San Fernando Valley youths have been arrested as suspects in a string of armed supermarket robberies, which authorities said were motivated by “thrill-seeking.”
Two of the suspects are former employees at one of the seven supermarkets robbed, said Detective Robert Johansen of the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley station.
D.J. Cekic and Dietrich O’Neal, both 19 and from Canoga Park, were arrested in seven robberies, and are suspected of recruiting two 17-year-old Chatsworth girls and a 16-year-old Canoga Park boy to help.
Police said robbers entered the supermarkets wearing black ski masks and carrying semiautomatic weapons and then ordered customers to the floor. About $6,000 was netted during the robberies, investigators said.
The men were being held in lieu of $35,000 bail each. The juveniles were released to the custody of their parents.
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