Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies arrested two men in connection with a recent armed robbery at the 27500 block of Whites Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, according to a news release Wednesday.

Mario Garcia and Pedro Leon-Montalvo, both 21 year olds from Santa Clarita, were arrested, and are being held without bail on armed robbery charges at the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking Santa Clarita news alerts delivered right to your inbox.

Both are due in court at Los Angeles Superior Court in San Fernando on March 29.

On Feb. 24, a man reported that while walking through a parking lot he was approached by a group of men who surrounded him, according to the statement.

One displayed a handgun and demanded the victim’s property along with making reference to the fact that he was a criminal street gang member.

Deputies responded to the robbery call, and a few hours later, a patrol deputy who was assigned to work that area continued a search for any possible suspects.

The deputy detained a man matching the description of the robbery suspect, who was found standing between two parked vehicles on the 27200 block of Sierra Highway.

The investigation conducted by patrol deputies led to the arrest of Garcia.

The Santa Clarita Valley Station’s Career Offenders, Burglary, Robbery Apprehension, or COBRA, team detectives assumed control of the investigation into the remaining suspects.

COBRA detectives were able to identify Leon-Montalvo as a second suspect in the robbery.

On March 7, COBRA detectives located Pedro Montalvo and arrested him for his alleged involvement.

Montalvo was on active parole at the time of his arrest and also found to be in possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine).

Both suspects are alleged to be gang members from the same criminal street gang.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, Or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com