CSUN Vehicle Used in Sav-On Holdup

A university car checked out by a secretary of Cal State Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson was used in the commission of a pharmacy holdup during the school’s winter break, Los Angeles police and campus officials said Monday.

Police arrested the secretary’s boyfriend, David Lawrence Burnette, shortly after a Chatsworth Sav-on drug store was robbed early in the morning of Dec. 28.

During a court hearing last week, Burnette’s bail was set at $130,000. He has been charged with robbery, auto theft and joy riding, authorities said.

“He walked into the store and simulated a weapon,” said Lt. Joseph Eddy, who declined to discuss how much money was stolen. Police did not recover a weapon during the arrest, Eddy said.

Still unclear is how Burnette allegedly obtained the keys to the university car from his girlfriend, Veronica Santa Maria, who was Wilson’s secretary until she resigned on Jan. 5. CSUN spokesman John Chandler said Santa Maria left of her own accord.

Santa Maria told university administrators that she checked out the staff car, a 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis, before the winter vacation, but Chandler could not say why she used the car. Santa Maria told CSUN administrators that she forgot to return the keys before the break and took them home with her.

Neither Santa Maria nor Burnette’s lawyer could be reached for comment.

The staff car was parked in front of the administration building until a few hours before the robbery, Chandler said.

Wilson did not know that her secretary had checked out the car before the vacation or that she had kept the keys after Dec. 24, Chandler said. “The whole thing was a surprise to us,” he said.

Burnette is scheduled for arraignment on March 8.