Matthew Udechukwu
COSTA MESA — On Tuesday afternoon, the CMPD responded to a report of a robbery. An 18-year-old male attempted to sell a pair of designer shoes that he advertised on a resale app.
During what the victim thought might be a point of sale, the prospective “buyer”, 18-year-old Matthew Udechukwu, allegedly sprayed him in the face with pepper spray and ran away with the shoes.
Responding CMP officers connected this incident to another one on May 12th during a similar transaction in which a 24-year-old male attempted to sell a backpack. During this incident the victim was pepper sprayed in the face and the suspect left with his backpack.
Police had already identified Odechukwu as the suspect and had a search warrant for his home, which they then executed after the stolen shoes caper.
Less than an hour after the May 30th incident, officers went to Odechukwu’s residence on the 2700 block of Mesa Verde Drive East. They forced entry into the apartment after no one answered their knock. The suspect was inside and was arrested for two counts of robbery.
The shoes and backpack were recovered during the arrest.
