Pair arrested in store robberies in Newport, 7 other cities

Police arrested two Inland Empire men suspected in a robbery spree across eight cities, including Newport Beach.

San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies allege that Anthony Edward Oddie, 20, of Chino Hills and Richard Gomez-Quiroz, 20, of Riverside held up at least 16 convenience stores in four Southern California counties.

“The suspects would often rob up to four locations in one night in various cities,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Typically, authorities allege, Oddie would enter a store wearing a surgical mask and wielding a handgun and a machete as he demanded money from the register.

Authorities later determined that the firearm was an air gun.

Gomez-Quiroz was the driver, authorities said, usually parking out of view of surveillance cameras.

Late Friday, after almost two months of investigation, Chino Hills detectives arrested Oddie at his workplace in Beaumont, according to authorities.

Gomez-Quiroz was arrested in a Chino Hills parking lot at about 1 a.m. Saturday.

Officials said they searched the suspects’ homes and the car police believe was used in the robberies.

Detectives said they found cash stolen in the most recent robbery, along with an air gun and clothes that they allege Oddie used in the heists.

Oddie and Gomez-Quiroz are jailed in San Bernardino County with bail set at $1 million each, according to authorities.

Authorities did not immediately return a call about when and where the spree struck in Newport Beach. Elsewhere in Orange County, stores were robbed in Fountain Valley, Santa Ana and Orange, police said.