Pump Alarm Helps Catch Suspects Installing Skimmer
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Two men were arrested Saturday right in the act of installing a skimming device at a Valero gas station in Sierra Madre, Calif., local police said.
The Sierra Madre Police Department said that it was alerted by a gas pump alarm and that officers arrived at the scene within a minute of being dispatched.
This was the second such incident that occurred at the Valero station within two weeks.
Skimmers are small devices usually installed inside fuel dispensers that capture credit and debit card information. Police found other skimming devices, laptop computers, counterfeit credit cards and other tools used to compromise gas pumps in the suspects' vehicle.
The suspects, Edvard Martirosyan, 27, and Aram Manasaryan, 22, both residents of Glendale, Calif., were arrested and booked at the Pasadena Police Department jail on multiple felony charges and then transferred to federal custody and taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.
Another similar case is pending against Martirosyan, who was out on bond at the time of his arrest.
Police urged customers who used a credit or debit card at the station from May 22 through June 6 to monitor their bank statements.
The case was turned over to the U.S. Secret Service.
--Donna Harris, dharris@opisnet.com
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