San Luis Obispo police arrest alleged serial REI burglar

June 20, 2025

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

San Luis Obispo police officers arrested an alleged serial burglar who tried again this week to steal merchandise from the REI store on Madonna Road.

On Tuesday, staff at the REI store observed a man trying to steal approximately $1,700 worth of merchandise by placing it in a bag. When confronted by staff, the suspect abandoned the items and exited the store.

The suspect, identified as 62-year-old transient Robert Wendell, had been arrested for theft at the same REI store five days earlier, according to the San Luis Obispo Police Department. Wendell recently served six months in jail following a Nov. 2024 conviction for burglarizing REI.

Following the confrontation in the REI store, patrol officers located Wendell at a bus stop on Madonna Road. Officers arrested Wendell and booked him in San Luis Obispo County Jail on a charge of attempted second-degree commercial burglary.

Wendell remains in custody with his bail set at $110,000.

 


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He was working his way up to stealing a Sprinter Van next….


Each homeless person is a potential problem waiting to happen to your community. If your don’t have a home you don’t belong and need to move along to where services are provided by city, not living on a bus stop and stealing. Until we are able to differentiate the good ones from the bad ones and have some control over them, you get what you deserve SLO. This is the price of blind unchecked compassion


I bet he wasn’t a Coop member! He stole $1,700 worth of items, so two pairs of socks, then.