Two Santa Rosa men arrested in string of armed robberies

Two Santa Rosa men were arrested Thursday on suspicion of together or separately committing a half-?dozen armed robberies this week from Windsor to Petaluma.

Four of the robberies took place Sunday at pharmacies in Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa and Windsor.

Detectives from three different agencies on Thursday searched two Santa Rosa homes and arrested Nathan Amit Lal, 20.

His alleged accomplice in the pharmacy robberies, Dylan David Burr, also 20, had been taken into custody earlier Thursday by a Rohnert Park police officer on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs and other misdemeanor charges.

The two men stand accused of robbing on Sunday the Wal-Mart pharmacies in Rohnert Park and Windsor and that same day twice robbing the Walgreens drugstore at Mission Boulevard and Highway 12. In each case the robbers demanded prescription drugs and each time one of the men “either displayed a handgun tucked in his waistband or referred to a gun,” according to a press release from Santa Rosa police.

In addition to the pharmacy cases, Burr is a suspect in Wednesday afternoon’s armed robbery at a check cashing/cash advance store on Commerce Boulevard in Rohnert Park and an attempted armed robbery in a bank parking lot that same day in Petaluma, according to the press release.

Detectives for Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office worked together on the case. Sheriff’s detectives received information that led them to identity Burr and Lal and on Thursday detectives served search warrants at homes on Wicket Avenue and Hopper Avenue in Santa Rosa.

Evidence related to the robberies was found at both locations, the press release stated.

On Thursday night, both men remained in the Sonoma County Jail. Bail for Lal was $240,000 and for Burr, $250,000.

You can reach Staff Writer ?Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @rdigit.