Man Desperate for Gambling Money Targeted Gas Stations, Police Say

A 46-year-old San Diego man desperate for gambling money was being held on $100,000 bail Thursday after being arrested in connection with a gas station robbery in Lemon Grove and an attempted heist in La Mesa, authorities said.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said, Byron Lydell Brown walked into the AM/PM market at the gas station on Broadway in Lemon Grove, brandishing a knife and demanding money from a clerk.

The suspect was described as a black man with salt-and-pepper hair carrying a knife, according to Lt. Christine Robbins of the Lemon Grove Sheriff’s Station.

Just before 12:30 a.m. Thursday, a suspect fitting the same description told a clerk at the Shell gas station at 5151 70th St. in west La Mesa that he had a knife in his pocket and would stab the clerk in the chest if he did not hand over the money in the store’s register, according to La Mesa police.   

The clerk stalled the would-be thief while activating the store’s robbery alarm, police said, noting that the suspect fled without any money when customers entered the store.  

Officers found Brown and a knife a short time later, near the intersection of 70th Street and Alvarado Road, police said.

According to Robbins, a deputy from the Lemon Grove station interviewed the suspect, who admitted to the ARCO robbery and said the money was spent gambling.  

Brown was booked into San Diego County Jail on charges of robbery, attempted robbery and burglary.

His arraignment has been set for 1:30 p.m. Monday at El Cajon Superior Court.

City News Service contributed to this report.