SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - Two roommates with surveillance cameras surrounding their South Lake Tahoe home were arrested Tuesday for allegedly robbing pedestrians and convenience stores with BB handguns, police said.
Dylan Boaz Burdick, 20, and William John Weldy, 21, were taken into custody after police searched their residence on Keller Road and found masks, clothing and a weapon believed to be associated with a string of 13 robberies involving at least 15 victims and four stores that has plagued South Shore since fall, according to reports.
"We have since collected a small amount of money we believe is associated with one or more of the robberies," said South Lake Tahoe Police Lt. Martin Hewlett.
During each crime only one man approached pedestrians or entered the stores.
Working on an unrelated case a week before, Officer Brian McGuckin received a tip that led authorities to property believed to be connected to the robberies.
Around 8 a.m. Tuesday, police placed Burdick under surveillance at his work at a construction site at Sierra Shores, Hewlett said.
The residence where Burdick lived was searched. Burdick is on probation in Placer County for a vehicle burglary. Weldy was found and said he had knowledge of the crimes and admitted he was the gunman in a Feb. 4 robbery at the 7-Eleven on Emerald Bay Road, police said.
Hewlett said the residence was equipped with police scanners and surveillance equipment. After a robbery, the two would listen to the response by law enforcement, he said.
Hewlett said at least 15 people were victims of the robberies, the first of which occurred Nov. 9 in South Lake Tahoe when a gunman approached pedestrians and demanded money.
There were two pedestrian robberies at the parking lots of Stateline casinos prior to Nov. 9. Hewlett said Burdick admitted to those crimes.
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