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Suspected Burbank armed robber arrested, linked to other crimes in North Hollywood

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A man suspected of robbing several businesses in Burbank and North Hollywood earlier this week was arrested Thursday, according to authorities.

Michael Clouse, a 37-year-old from Georgia, was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery by officers from the Burbank and Los Angeles police departments. The arrest stems from a pair of robberies in Burbank early Monday when a man robbed a Subway restaurant and a 7-Eleven at gunpoint.

According to Sgt. Derek Green, a spokesman for the Burbank Police Department, a man entered a 24-hour Subway at 531 N. Hollywood Way sometime after midnight. The man had a gun tucked into his waistband and demanded money from two employees.

Seeing the gun and fearing for their lives, the employees handed the man cash.

Green said the same man then walked across the street to a 7-Eleven at 600 N. Hollywood Way. There, the man tapped the barrel of a handgun on the store’s counter and demanded money from a clerk.

The clerk complied, and the man then fled. Only minutes elapsed between the two robberies, Green said.

Eventually, Burbank detectives discovered the man was possibly linked to the robberies of two 7-Eleven locations in North Hollywood.

One of those robberies occurred on Sunday around 11:35 p.m. in the 12450 block of Burbank Boulevard, less than 30 minutes before the Subway incident.

“Basically three robberies in a row, all in a matter of 40 minutes based on our timeline,” Green said.

Clouse was then identified as a suspect through a joint effort with the Los Angeles Police Department.

He was subsequently contacted outside of a North Hollywood hotel where police found clothing in his possession that matched clothing worn by the suspect reportedly involved in the robberies in Burbank.

However, Green said no money or weapon was recovered from the hotel room.

Burbank and Los Angeles police also believe Clouse is connected to the so-called “Penny-Pincher Bandit” who robbed a gas station in Canoga Park late Saturday evening.

A suspect in that incident was shot and killed by police Thursday after a chase in North Hollywood.

“We believe that Clouse is linked … beyond that, we don’t know what the exact connection is,” Green said.

Clouse is being detained in lieu of $200,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_Truc


UPDATES:

10:27 a.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from Burbank Sgt. Derek Green about the arrest.

This article was originally published at 9:40 a.m.

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