Holdup Suspects May Be Linked to Other Heists

The two men and a juvenile arrested in connection with the holdup of a local Trader Joe’s store may be linked to at least 15 other Southern California holdups of the trendy specialty market in recent months, investigators said Tuesday.

Ventura County sheriff’s detectives said they would compare notes of Trader Joe’s robberies across Los Angeles and Orange counties with the holdup late Monday at a Camarillo store on Carmen Drive, said Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Will Hammer.

Just days before the Camarillo robbery, an Eagle Rock Trader Joe’s was robbed at gunpoint by three males fitting the same description. Other holdups occurred on Nov. 17 in Rancho Palos Verdes and on Nov. 9 in Costa Mesa, officials said.

LAPD detectives who have been searching for three suspects in connection with a series of Trader Joe’s holdups since March said they are eager to interview the three suspects in the Camarillo robbery.

In all of the holdups, witnesses described a distinctive blue steel handgun and said at least one suspect wore a ski mask. Witnesses in many of the holdups reported seeing the suspects leaving the scene in a dark-colored car. The three suspects in the Camarillo robbery were driving a black Dodge when they were apprehended.