North Hollywood Man Who Took Arsenal To Galleria Sent To Prison

LOS ANGELES, CA — A North Hollywood man who brought a trove of guns and live ammunition inside the Glendale Galleria over the holiday hopping season in 2020 was sentenced to seven years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice Department announced Thursday.

According to prosecutors, 29-year-old Tigran Zmrukhtyan walked into Macy's department store in the mall on Dec. 18, 2020 with a duffel bag full of guns and ammunition. He tried to steal clothes and ran from store employees, according to the Glendale Police Department. A chase ensued, and that's when loss prevention employees and Glendale Police Department officers discovered the arsenal, investigators said.

"Officers attempted to detain Zmrukhtyan once he exited the store, but Zmrukhtyan ran from them. Officers caught up to him and, after a struggle, were able to handcuff Zmrukhtyan. Upon doing so, officers located a loaded handgun in his waistband. He was also found to be in possession of a pair of bolt cutters, a plastic baggy of heroin and a methamphetamine pipe," the Glendale Police Department said in a written statement at the time. "Employees from the business alerted officers that Zmrukhtyan had left a duffle bag in the store prior to exiting. Officers took possession of the bag and inside of it they located four additional handguns (three of which were loaded), multiple loaded handgun magazines and boxes of ammunition (containing over 200 rounds of live ammunition) along with evidence of identity theft."

Zmrukhtyan, who already had 19 felony convictions on his record at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty in July to one count of being felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, according to the DOJ. One of his previous convictions was a 2016 burglary of a Burbank gun store in which he stole 10 firearms, according to the Department of Justice.

Zmrukhtyan's conduct "was not an aberration," federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in Los Angeles federal court. "For more than a decade, (Zmrukhtyan) has engaged in a streak of criminal activity that has seemingly worsened with each conviction."

City News Service contributed to this report.