5 Men Arrested After Liquor Store Robbery
Five Canoga Park men were arrested early Sunday by Port Hueneme police on suspicion of armed robbery after a liquor store clerk told investigators that the store had been robbed at gunpoint.
Police said the suspects entered Surfside Liquor on Port Hueneme Road about 1 a.m. Sunday. One of the men threatened the clerk, who was not named by authorities, with a .357-magnum gun while the others took two 12-packs of beer, police said.
When bystander William Thoos of Port Hueneme attempted to intervene, another suspect sprayed Mace in his face before the group fled in a car, according to police. Thoos recovered and was not treated, police said.
Officer Dale Harbin spotted a vehicle matching the description of the suspects’ car a few minutes later on Port Hueneme Road near Ventura Road, police said.
At Surfside Drive, he pulled the car over and arrested all five men. Officers said they found the 12-packs of beer, Mace and a loaded .357-magnum gun inside the car.
Arrested were Baltazar Carrillo, 24; Refugio Marquez, 23; Mario Parra, 26; Francisco Benitez, 31, and Adolfo Rosete, 19, police said.
The five were booked at Ventura County Jail. Carrillo was also arrested on suspicion of possessing stolen property after it was determined that the gun had been reported stolen.
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