Santa Barbara police last week arrested a 19-year-old suspected of being a serial robber.
Investigators say Brent Thomas Lingiardi’s crime spree spanned a 20-month time period.
During that time, they say he robbed multiple businesses of cash and merchandise. Those businesses include the Five Points Blenders in the Grass, the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at State St. and De La Vina, and the Chevron on Coast Village Rd.
Surveillance photo courtesy Santa Barbara Police Dept.
Police say he also tried to rob the Five Points CVS earlier this year but was thwarted.
The most recent robberies, at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Blenders in the Grass, occurred on Sept. 10 and 11.
Police say an anonymous tip helped them identify Lingiardi as the suspect and they took him into custody on Thursday, Sept. 13.
Surveillance photo courtesy Santa Barbara Police Dept.
Detectives who interviewed Lingiardi say he confessed to a total of seven robberies, revealing facts about the cases that only the robber would know. They also searched his home and reportedly collected additional evidence.
Lingiardi was booked into Santa Barbara County Jail on seven robbery charges.
Brent Thomas Lingiardi
Police say their investigation into Lingiardi continues, and they ask anyone with information that may help in that investigation to contact Det. Douglas Klug at (805) 897-2346 or dklug@sbpd.com.
