Police are looking into whether a 32-year-old Long Beach transient arrested Sunday for an armed robbery at a grocery store may be responsible for robbing a drug store earlier that same day, authorities said Monday.
The suspect, whose name was not available Monday, was arrested not long after an armed robbery was reported at a grocery store in the 1800 block of Lakewood Boulevard shortly before 8 p.m., said Nancy Pratt, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
When the suspect was seen taking items from the store an employee intervened only to have the suspect pull out a knife and threaten him before fleeing, Pratt said.
Officers working in the area spotted a man who matched the suspect's description near Pacific Coast Highway and Termino Avenue, Pratt said.
When they stopped the man they saw he was armed with a knife, she said.
"The suspect ignored repeated commands to drop the weapon," Pratt said.
The man was disarmed and taken into custody after he was shot with a less-lethal bean bag round, Pratt said.
In addition to the knife, police also found items stolen from the grocery store, police said.
And investigators are looking into the possibility that the 32-year-old suspect carried out an armed robbery at a drug store in the 1800 block of Ximeno Avenue at about 1:40 p.m. that same day, Pratt said.
Pratt said not only was the proximity of the two crimes very close but the same suspect description was given by witnesses and the same methods were used in both incidents.
Anyone with information on either robbery is asked to call the LBPD's Robbery Division at 562-570-7464.
The suspect, whose name was not available Monday, was arrested not long after an armed robbery was reported at a grocery store in the 1800 block of Lakewood Boulevard shortly before 8 p.m., said Nancy Pratt, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.
When the suspect was seen taking items from the store an employee intervened only to have the suspect pull out a knife and threaten him before fleeing, Pratt said.
Officers working in the area spotted a man who matched the suspect's description near Pacific Coast Highway and Termino Avenue, Pratt said.
When they stopped the man they saw he was armed with a knife, she said.
"The suspect ignored repeated commands to drop the weapon," Pratt said.
The man was disarmed and taken into custody after he was shot with a less-lethal bean bag round, Pratt said.
In addition to the knife, police also found items stolen from the grocery store, police said.
And investigators are looking into the possibility that the 32-year-old suspect carried out an armed robbery at a drug store in the 1800 block of Ximeno Avenue at about 1:40 p.m. that same day, Pratt said.
Pratt said not only was the proximity of the two crimes very close but the same suspect description was given by witnesses and the same methods were used in both incidents.
Anyone with information on either robbery is asked to call the LBPD's Robbery Division at 562-570-7464.
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