Police: possible link to string of incidents for CVS robbers

Two teens were arrested for committing an armed robbery Wednesday afternoon.|

Two teens arrested Wednesday afternoon in connection with an armed robbery of the CVS Pharmacy in the Plaza North Shopping Center on North McDowell Blvd. are under investigation as the possible culprits for a string of robberies across Petaluma over the past few weeks, according to the Petaluma Police Department.

At 12:44 p.m. on April 29, the Petaluma Police Department’s 911 dispatchers received a 911 call from the CVS Pharmacy reporting an armed robbery. The victim described the suspect as a white male who was wearing a black mask and had displayed a white handled revolver in his waistband before he jumped the counter and took several bottles of prescription medication with codeine. The suspect fled the store and was followed by another employee until the suspect displayed the handgun again in his waistband to deter the employee from following. The suspect was last seen headed eastbound through the parking lot of the shopping center toward McDowell Boulevard and the Petaluma Community Center.

A citizen in the community center’s parking lot saw the suspect running across McDowell Boulevard and found his behavior suspicious. He watched as the suspect, a juvenile, age 17, ran into a red Toyota Camry that was already moving through the lot. This witness called 911 and reported their observation of the red Toyota Camry along with the license plate.

Responding police units set up a large perimeter and searched for the suspects and their vehicle. Near the intersection of Corona Road and Sonoma Mountain Parkway, Officer Paul Accornero was flagged down by yet another observant Petaluma resident who reported a suspicious vehicle and two occupants in a driveway east of the intersection.

Approximately nine minutes after the crime occurred, Accornero located the vehicle on Corona Road east of Sonoma Mountain Parkway. It matched the vehicle description and license plate provided by the witness. Accornero attempted to detain both suspects. The driver, later identified as Antonio Reinstadler, age 18, from Petaluma failed to comply with commands and was detained without incident after being tased. The juvenile was taken into custody without incident.

The investigation later resulted in the firearm being recovered that was used in the robbery along with the black ski mask and the stolen property. The firearm was a .22 caliber revolver. All of this contraband was located in the suspect’s vehicle.

The Petaluma Police Department Investigation Unit responded and assumed the investigation. Both suspects were arrested and later confessed to the crime of robbery. Reinstadler was transported to Sonoma County Jail on charges of armed robbery without bail. The 17-year-old suspect was transported to the Juvenile Detention Facility, also without bail, for charges of armed robbery.

Investigators are comparing these suspects to the recent string of armed robberies in Petaluma. Those incidents include three robberies of three different locations in Petaluma on March 25 in which money and drugs were reported stolen.

“There are similarities in how these robberies took place-the manner of dress, the build of the suspects, what they were trying to steal, the getaway car,” said Dan Fish, a spokesman for the department.

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