University Car Used in Drugstore Holdup

A university car checked out by a secretary to Cal State Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson was used in the holdup of a pharmacy 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 drugstore was robbed early Dec. 28.

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

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

Santa Maria told university administrators she checked out the staff car before the winter vacation, but spokesman Chandler could not say why she used the car. He said Santa Maria told 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, Chandler said. “The whole thing was a surprise to us,” he said.

Burnette is scheduled for arraignment March 8.