PASADENA >> Police jailed a man Saturday afternoon following an ill-fated robbery attempt at a Pasadena Best Buy store, officials said.
Gabriel Robert Murrieta, 42. of Palmdale was arrested following the 2:25 p.m. incident at the electronics store, 3415 E. Foothill Blvd., according to Pasadena police officials and Los Angeles County booking records.
He walked into the store and told an employee that he was armed and demanded money, Pasadena police Lt. Mark Goodman said. He gestured as if he had a handgun.
The manager walked with the would-be robber to a cash register while other employees called police.
Officers responded to the store and arrested Murrieta without a struggle, Goodman said. He was found to be unarmed.
“The store was full of shoppers at the time of the incident, and officers did an excellent job of coordinating their response,” Goodman added.
Murrieta was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail pending a scheduled arraignment hearing on Wednesday in the Pasadena branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court, records show.