Anaheim Man Held in String of Gas Station Robberies

A man suspected of using his menacing size to rob gas stations was arrested after a brief foot chase near his Anaheim home, sheriff’s officials said.

Dexter Brown, 32, was arrested late Tuesday near his home in the 1000 block of North Lido Street after several people called police to report recognizing him in a photograph broadcast by a Los Angeles television station.

“The surveillance tape was broadcast at 4:32 p.m.,” said Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, “and by 4:35 we’d had three calls telling us who the suspect may be.”

Several deputies were posted at Brown’s home, where he was arrested after arriving and leading them on a brief foot pursuit about 10:15 p.m., Amormino said.

Brown, who Amormino said is 6 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs more than 300 pounds, is suspected of physically intimidating the clerks at gas stations in Mission Viejo, Seal Beach, Laguna Hills, Lake Forest, Orange and Buena Park into opening their cash registers and giving him undisclosed amounts of cash.

Since his arrest, Amormino said, investigators have linked him to several other robberies in Costa Mesa, Walnut, Corona and Long Beach.

He was allegedly armed in at least one holdup.

“I’m sure the count will just keep going,” Amormino said.

Brown, who is expected to be arraigned this week, is being held at Orange County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.