OXNARD : Clerk Set Up Market Robbery, Police Say

An apparent armed robbery at a south Oxnard supermarket earlier this month was actually a sham planned by a store clerk and two friends, Oxnard detectives said Wednesday.

The announcement followed the arrest Tuesday of the man believed to have driven the getaway car in the July 9 robbery that netted $1,300, said Oxnard Detective Michael Palmieri.

Brian Denton, 25, was arrested nearly two weeks after an investigation led police to identify him and two others as suspects in the staged robbery, Palmieri said.

Wydell Madison, the clerk, and alleged gunman Vincent Ybarra were arrested the day after the robbery, he said. At the time of his arrest, Madison was still in possession of money and food stamps taken in the robbery, Palmieri said.

According to the police investigation, Madison, 20, set up the robbery with his friends. On duty at the store, he kept on hand a sum of money significantly larger than usual for late at night, police said.

At 3:15 a.m., Ybarra, 20, entered the all-night Smith’s market with a sawed-off shotgun, approached Madison and took the $1,300, Palmieri said. Ybarra fled the store and left the scene in a car driven by Denton, he said.

Madison was also charged with possession of cocaine after officers found him with nine grams of the drug, Palmieri said.