Beaumont, CA - On Sunday, February 20, 2022, at approximately 1:46 p.m., the Beaumont Police Department was notified of a theft that occurred at a gas station near 1st Street and Beaumont Avenue. Officers contacted the victim, an elderly woman, who reported that a male in a white Mercedes Benz had flagged her down to notify her of a flat tire and offered to assist her with fixing it. The victim had exited her vehicle to check the tire and while doing so the male subject entered her vehicle and removed her cell phone and wallet from her purse on the front seat. The subject then told the victim her tire was ok and left the area. The victim then realized her property had been taken and notified police.
The victim reported the subject as a Middle Eastern male wearing a white sweatsuit and blue baseball cap. He was last seen driving a 4-door, white Mercedes Benz.
As officers were investigating the theft a vehicle and subject matching the description pulled into the gas station behind a second victim, as officers approached the vehicles they viewed the male in the front seat of the second victims car attempting to remove her wallet and cell phone. Officers detained the subject. The second victim reported to officers that the subject, 42 year old, Arthur Sogomonyan, from North Hollywood, had followed her from the parking lot of Walmart and had been honking his horn causing her to pull over. Sogomonyan approached the victim to let her know her tire was flat and to head to the gas station where he would assist her in filling up. When they got there Sogomonyan told her she had a leak under her hood, causing the victim to exit her vehicle, so he could attempt to remove her property, but was interrupted by officers.
While detained officers located the property from the first victim and subsequently arrested him for the theft. Due to the age of both of the victims he was also charged with felony elder abuse. The Beaumont Police Department believes there may be additional victims. If you have information about this case or believe you may have been a victim, please contact the On-Duty Watch Commander at 951-769-8500.
