GARDEN GROVE : Police Arrest Riverside Man in Thrifty Holdup

Police have arrested a man identified as one of two suspects in the armed robbery of a Thrifty store last week.

Johnnie Lumica Stocker, 20, of Riverside was arrested Friday at the Probation Department in Orange after detectives lured him there to inquire about a probation violation.

Sgt. Mike Handfield, who headed the team investigating the case, said that Stocker and a companion are suspected of robbing the Thrifty in the 9000 block of Chapman Avenue on Oct. 3.

According to their investigation, Handfield said, two men tied up the employees at gunpoint and fled with about $2,600 in cash.

Handfield said that the suspects wore ski masks. Stocker became a suspect after a store employee told police he may have recognized the voice of one of the robbers as that of Stocker’s, who used to work at the store, Handfield said.

Handfield said that investigators contacted Stocker, informed him about “a minor probation violation” and arrested him when he inquired about it at the Probation Department.

Stocker was on probation for an offense as a juvenile, Handfield said. He is being held at County Jail while awaiting his arraignment.

Following Stocker’s arrest, search warrants were served in Huntington Beach and Riverside, but the second suspect is still being sought, Police Lt. John Woods said.