Police: Gas station burglary suspect fired BB gun at window to gain entry
Salinas police have announced the arrest of a man accused of burglarizing a local gas station.
Shortly before 1 AM on Saturday, March 19, officers responded to the gas station on the 600 block of West Market Street to investigate a burglary report.
Though the suspect had fled prior to officers arriving, surveillance video obtained from the scene reportedly showed a man outside the gas station holding what appeared to be a firearm, which was later discovered to have been a BB gun.
The suspect is then seen firing a round to break the front window and make entry and, minutes later, fleeing the scene on a bicycle with multiple items taken from inside, police said.
Within hours, a person matching the suspect’s description — identified as 20-year-old Cameron Schmuckle — was seen in the area of West Market Street and Rikers Street. Schmuckle reportedly grew belligerent and uncooperative when officers approached him, and was arrested with the assistance of a K-9 officer.
Officers found items on Schmuckle connecting him to the burglary, and later came across a BB gun he’d allegedly discarded nearby. He was also connected to an earlier armed robbery, on March 5, after officers found additional evidence during a search of his home, police said.
Schmuckle was ultimately booked at the Monterey County jail on charges related to both the gas station robbery and the alleged armed robbery in early March.
