Atascadero Man Arrested for Armed Robbery at Santa Barbara Tobacco Shop

On Friday afternoon, the Santa Barbara Police Department (SBPD) announced that a suspect has been arrested on charges of robbery and criminal threats for allegedly holding up a tobacco store on the 4000 block of Calle Real in Santa Barbara on March 31. The suspect, 22-year-old Atascadero resident Eddie Aldo Martinez-Brito, allegedly robbed the store with a semi-automatic pistol while wearing a surgical mask, threatening to shoot the clerk and demanding cash and bongs sold at the store. Security footage showed the suspect escaping with a getaway driver after the robbery. On April 10, SBPD detectives located and arrested both Martinez-Brito and a female suspect in San Luis Obispo County. The female suspect, the alleged getaway driver, was charged with accessory to robbery. Police recovered live ammunition and a replica handgun during the arrest, as well as some of the marijuana paraphernalia believed to be taken in the robbery. Martinez-Brito is being held in Santa Barbara County Jail on $50,000 bail.