A 25-year-old man suspected in a grand theft at a retail store in Palm Desert and several similar robberies in Los Angeles was arrested, authorities said Tuesday.
Nikolas Mallory of Los Angeles was arrested Monday and booked into Los Angeles County Jail, according to Sgt. Daniel Milbrandt of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
Milbrandt said deputies responded at 2:21 p.m. Oct. 7 to the 73000 block of El Paseo to a report of a grand theft at a retail store.
“Two suspects entered the store, stole several high-value items of merchandise, and ran out of the store within seconds,” Milbrandt said. “On October 18, the same suspects entered the same business and stole a significant amount of merchandise prior to fleeing the area.”
The investigation was then assumed by the Palm Desert Investigations Bureau with assistance from the Palm Desert sheriff’s station Business District Team, according to Milbrandt. Mallory was subsequently identified as the suspect in the Palm Desert thefts as well as several similar robberies in Los Angeles.
The bureau and the Los Angeles Police Department’s Office Retail Crime Task Force used their investigative leads Sunday to serve search warrants in the 800 block of West 104th Street, where they found evidence implicating Mallory in the El Paseo thefts, Milbrandt said.
The identity of the second suspect was not immediately known as the investigation was ongoing.
Anyone with additional information on the thefts was asked to call Investigator Pfholman at 760-836-1600.