As part of a crime-suppression operation Saturday, Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials arrested a man with active warrants on suspicion of theft, drugs and weapons charges after a CVS and Rite Aid were burglarized.
Justin Truong, 32, of Los Angeles, was stopped by Sheriff’s Station detectives sometime after 8:15 p.m. near the intersection of Whites and Soledad canyon roads in Canyon Country in a car reported stolen out of the L.A. area, according to officials.
“As the suspect was yielding, he swallowed fentanyl in an attempt to destroy the evidence,” said Sgt. Brian Shreves of the SCV Sheriff’s Station, who also confirmed the suspect was taken to the hospital for several hours as a result. The suspect later confessed that he lied to deputies about ingesting the fentanyl.
Truong’s previous charges included three petty theft allegations from Jan. 21; a grand theft allegation from Jan. 25; another theft allegation Jan. 27; a theft during an emergency allegation two days later; a drug allegation May 19; a weapons allegation May 21; and a separate allegation he entered a business with the intent to commit theft.
Deputies alleged Truong was driving a hot-wired vehicle, and inside, they reported finding: a large knife (stored in the driver’s door), a billy club/taser combination weapon, dozens of stolen credit cards, heroin, methamphetamine, additional fentanyl, stolen mail, burglary tools and hundreds of dollars in stolen merchandise with a retail value over $1,300 — all of which was photographed and booked into evidence by station officials.
Prior to Saturday’s arrest, Truong had been cited for seven separate incidents this year, per Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arrest records obtained by The Signal.
Truong was being held Monday at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles in lieu of $286,555 bail.
He’s due in court Tuesday to answer to the latest allegations.
