Long Beach police say they’ve arrested a man who went on a crime spree over the last nine months — repeatedly holding up businesses where he would make it look like he had a gun and force clerks to open cash registers.
From January to September, police say he robbed nine locations, including 7-Elevens in Bixby Knolls and near Houghton Park.
Police said detectives homed in on a suspect by “meeting with business owners and victims, reviewing surveillance footage, and canvassing for additional evidence related to the robberies.”
Detectives were following up on one of the robberies on Atlantic Avenue near 59th Street on Sept. 10 when they spotted the suspect nearby and arrested him, according to police, who identified him as Tyler Isaac Cooper, a 23-year-old who lives in an apartment not far from many of the businesses that were robbed.
Police allege they’ve also tied Cooper to 10 commercial burglaries mostly targeting North Long Beach shops and restaurants, including a Subway he allegedly broke into twice at Atlantic Avenue and Artesia Boulevard.
Police said he’s being held on $510,000 bail.
“Crime is not tolerated in our city, and we will do all we can to hold individuals accountable for disrupting the safety of our community,” LBPD Chief Wally Hebeish said in a statement.
Police asked anyone with more information to contact detectives at 562-570-7464.