By Mike Hazlip–
Citrus Heights police have arrested two brothers, ages 17 and 19, in connection with an armed robbery that occurred near a shopping center at Greenback Lane and San Juan Avenue early Monday morning.
Lieut. Michael Wells said in an email Wednesday that the robbery victim was sitting in his vehicle after ordering food around midnight. A masked suspect then allegedly approached the man with a gun and demanded his belongings.
Wells said the victim had not yet reported the crime when a Citrus Heights police officer patrolling closed businesses in the area observed an individual wearing all dark clothing sprint across the street, hop into the passenger side of a waiting vehicle and then speed off.
Not yet knowing about the robbery, officers stopped the suspicious fleeing vehicle and found a black ski mask and a stolen semi-automatic handgun in the car, Wells said. Officers determined additional property found in the car did not belong to the two teenage occupants and sought to contact the owner of the property.
After being contacted by police, the victim informed officers about the robbery and was able to recover his stolen property.
Police said the suspects are charged with robbery, possession of a stolen firearm, being armed in commission of a felony, having a concealed firearm within a vehicle, and conspiracy.
The suspects names are not being released due to one of them being a minor, but police said both suspects are from Sacramento. The name of the 19-year-old adult suspect is also not being released, due to the pair sharing the same last name.
“This arrest was made because an officer was proactively in the area trying to prevent illegal activity from occurring,” Wells said.
Crediting the officer’s alert observations, the lieutenant said a stolen firearm “was taken off the streets, two dangerous subjects were arrested, the victim’s property was returned and hopefully the arrest gave the victim some piece of mind knowing the suspects were in-custody.”
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