Police Wednesday arrested a man and woman from Ontario in connection with the armed robbery of a woman in the parking lot of a Glendora Sam’s Club store earlier this week, officials said.
James Reveles, 28, and his girlfriend Brittney Sloan, 26, were booked on suspicion of robbery following their arrest late Wednesday at an apartment complex near Haven Avenue and Riverside Drive in Ontario, according to Glendora police Lt. Brian Summers.
They’re accused of robbing a woman Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of Sam’s Club, at Gladstone Street and Lone Hill Avenue, police said.
A 68-year-old woman had just finished shopping and was walking through the store’s parking lot when she was approached by a man, Summers said.
“The suspect demanded her purse and produced a firearm, and when she refused to turn it over, forcible ripped it off her arm,” the lieutenant said.
The robber fled into a waiting getaway car, he added. “An alert witness heard the victim screaming and was able to obtain the license plate of the suspect vehicle.”
Detectives found the black Acura sedan involved in the robbery Wednesday night at the Ontario apartment complex, officials said. Police watched until they saw a man who matched the description of the robber get into the car, at which point they arrested him.
Sloan, the registered owner of the car, was found and arrested at a nearby apartment complex, Summers said.
“Detectives recovered a handgun and some of the victim’s credic cards from a hidden compartment in the suspect vehicle,” he said.
According to county booking records, Reveles was being held in lieu of $215,000 bail, while Sloan was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Both were scheduled to be arraigned Friday in West Covina Superior Court.

PHTOOS of James Reveles and Brittney Sloan courtesy of the Glendora Police Department.

GLENDORA — A woman lost her purse to an armed robber Saturday in a store parking lot Saturday afternoon, police said.
The woman was walking through the parking lot outside of Sam’s Club, at Lone Hill Avenue and Gladstone Street, when whe was approached by a man armed with a handgun, Glendora police Lt. Scott Strong said.
The man first demanded the woman’s purse, but when she refused to hand it over, he grabbed it from her, the sergeant said. The woman was not hurt.
The suspect, initially described only as a white man between 20 and 25 years old, fled the scene in a black Acura, police said.

GLENDORA — Police jailed a Glendora man Thursday after he became involved in a tug-of-war with a store manager over a drill set he was trying to steal, officials said.
Brandon Weinzril, 21, was booked on suspicion of strong-arm robbery and commercial burglary following the 11:50 a.m. incident at Home Depot, 1305 S. Lone Hill Ave., Glendora police Lt. Rob Lamborghini said.
A manager at the store spotted Weinzril trying to steal a drill set and confronted him, the lieutenant said.
“A struggle ensued for the items,” he said. “The suspect was ultimately detained.”
Officers arrived and took custody of the alleged thief, Lamborghini said.
No significant injuries resulted from the incident, he added.

A former Glendora man was released from prison after 27 years when his 1985 murder conviction was overturned last year has filed a claim against the county, as well as a detective and the estate of another detective who investigated the case.
Frank O’Connell, 55, was convicted of slaying of 27-year-old Jay French in South Pasadena on Jan. 5, 1984. He has maintained that he was innocent of the crime.
But after more than 27 years in prison, and assistance from the nonprofit organization Centurion Ministry, which is dedicated to freeing wrongly convicted prisoners, O’Connell’s conviction was thrown out March 29 of last year by Pasadena Superior Court Judge Suzette Clover, who cited major problems she found with O’Connell’s trial.
“Police officer investigating his case withheld critical information,” said O’Connell’s attorney, Barrett Litt. “(They) gave misleading information in reports which led to a conviction.”
By law, police and prosecutors must turn over all evidence, including exculpatory evidence, to the defense, Litt explained. “That’s a very well-established rule.”
“It came out that they withheld notes that they had written contemporaneously with interviews,” Litt said.
In overturning O’Connell’s conviction, Clover also pointed out that a key witness in the original 1985 murder trial have since recanted his testimony and claimed a detective pressured him to identify O’Connell as the killer.
Prosecutors did not seek to re-try the case, saying they were unable to gather sufficient evidence.
Litt said a claim against Los Angeles County was filed Monday, Litt said. Also named as defendants in the case are one of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s homicide detectives who handled the investigation, along with the estate of his partner, who is now deceased.
The claim seeks unspecified damages, the attorney said. In past cases, juries have awarded $1 million for each year a person was wrongfully imprisoned.
Since his release from prison last year, O’Connell has moved to Colorado where he works at a cabinet shop, Litt said.