Suspect in 30 Armed Holdups Arrested at Mission Hills Store

A man dubbed the “remorseful robber” because he returned cash or valuables in response to pleas from his victims was arrested Tuesday in Mission Hills, police said.

Ronald Sykes, 29, of Eagle Rock was arrested in connection with about 30 armed robberies since June 20, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Paul Mattson. Sykes did not resist when he was taken into custody at 1:30 a.m. at a 7-Eleven store at the corner of Chatsworth Street and Sepulveda Boulevard, Mattson said.

The robber approached victims on foot as they left their homes, got out of their cars or worked in their yards, Mattson said. He would display a shotgun wrapped in a shirt or jacket and demand money from the victims, Mattson said.

In one case, the robber returned $20 to a victim he had just robbed of $400, police said. “The victim said it was all the money he had,” Mattson said. In another case he apparently returned the ATM card of a robbery victim who had asked him not to take it by coming back and throwing the card in a neighbor’s yard. Mattson did not know if the robber used the card.

Another victim begged the robber not to take a ring, “so he gave it back,” Mattson said.

Sykes was apprehended by a special San Fernando Valley police unit assigned to pursue armed criminals, said Mattson, who commands the unit. On Monday, a police officer noticed a black pickup truck similar to one used in several of the crimes parked at the Sterling Motel in Sylmar.

Police followed Sykes from the hotel to a Chevron gas station at Sepulveda Boulevard and Rinaldi Street, where he tried several times to trick the cashier into leaving the protected booth, Mattson said.

Because they thought he was armed, police did not arrest him until they saw him enter the 7-Eleven unarmed, Mattson said. They found a shotgun in the front seat of the truck that fit the description of the robbery weapon.