2 arrested after laundromat burglarized in Simi Valley

Police in Simi Valley tracked down and arrested two men accused of burglarizing a laundromat early Saturday morning, according to authorities.

At about 4:12 a.m., an officer with the Simi Valley Police Department was on patrol when they noticed a vehicle parked behind some closed businesses on the 5700 block of E. Los Angeles Avenue. The officer approached the vehicle and saw a suspect with a crowbar exiting the rear of Clean Threads Coin Laundry.

The suspect then fled to the front of the business complex on foot. Police then sent in the Simi Valley Police Department Unmanned Aerial System Drone for assistance, authorities said.

While searching, officers encountered a second suspect, who was wandering around a nearby business complex. That man, a 31-year-old Los Angeles resident Marcus Hobbs, couldn’t provide a reason for being in the area. Security footage later proved that he burglarized the laundromat, and he was arrested, according to police.

The initial suspect was later found near a fast-food restaurant. He was identified as 29-year-old Michael Jerome Lawrence, also of Los Angeles; he was arrested and charged with suspicion of burglary.

The vehicle initially spotted by the officer was then deemed to have a stolen license plate on it, that was lifted from a car in a nearby residential area.

No additional details were immediately made available.