Suspects Arrested In Skimming Case
Press Release posted 6/7/14 – At 2:40 am, Sierra Madre Police Officers responded to an alarm call at the Valero Gas Station at 4 N. Baldwin Ave. and quickly detained two suspects who were installing a skimming device to capture credit card numbers in the gas pumps. Edvard Martirosyan, 27, and Aram Manasaryan 22, both residents of Glendale, were taken into custody without incident. There were other skimming devices, laptop computers, counterfeit credit cards, and other tools used to compromise the gas pumps inside the suspects’ vehicle. This is the second incident at the Valero Station within two weeks.
Police Chief Larry Giannone said ”the Officers’ quick response to the alarm call allowed us to catch the suspects in the act. Officers were on scene within 1 minute of being dispatched to the call and caught the suspects as they were attempting to leave.’ Chief Giannone also urges anyone that has used a credit or debit card from May 22nd to June 6th at the Valero Gas Station to monitor their bank statements for any unusual activity just to be on the safe side. “At this point in the investigation we cannot be 100% certain that some personal information was not captured.”
Martirosyan and Manasaryan were booked at the Pasadena Police Dept. Jail on multiple felony charges and then were transferred into Federal Custody and taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center. Martirosyan also has a pending case with Secret Service and was out on bond at the time of his early morning arrest.
The U.S. Secret Service has agreed to take the lead in the investigation.