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Tempe PD: Two arrested after pepper spraying robbery victims

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Posted at 1:17 PM, Mar 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-11 16:17:01-04

TEMPE, AZ — Two men were arrested after reportedly pepper-spraying their robbery victims in two separate incidents.

Tempe police report that on February 29, a 17-year-old boy was pepper-sprayed and robbed during an Offer Up transaction near Scottsdale Road and Rio Salado Parkway. The suspect stole two sets of Apple Air Pods from the boy. The victim managed to take a photo of the last four digits of the suspect's license plate.

Police say the Offer Up account used for the transaction was registered to 23-year-old Omar Khaled Elmadbouly of Gilbert. A vehicle registered to the same address also had license plate numbers that matched the numbers in the victim's photo.

The victim was also able to identify Elmadbouly as the man who assaulted him.

Police say a similar incident occurred two days later near Priest Drive and Broadway Road. In this instance, a woman was pepper-sprayed during a LetGo transaction in which the suspect stole her iPad.

Elmadbouly was located and arrested by police on March 4. He allegedly identified Ahmed Youssef, 20, as the driver during the first robbery and the person who committed the second robbery.

Police arrested Youssef the next day. Youssef allegedly admitted to the second robbery, saying, his "college career was over," and he "was sorry."

The duo have both been charged with two counts of aggravated robbery.