Dominic Charkhian.
Man threatens employee with knife during restroom altercation
– Officers from the San Luis Obispo Police Department arrested a man suspected of assault and robbery in downtown San Luis Obispo following an incident at a business on the 500 block of Higuera Street.
Officers were dispatched on May 16 at approximately 10:24 a.m. after a report of an assault and robbery that had occurred around 20 minutes earlier. According to the report, an employee observed a shirtless man lying across a table in the hallway of the business and told him to leave. The man, later identified as 26-year-old Dominic Charkhian, left the area.
Shortly afterward, the employee entered the restroom and found Charkhian inside charging his phone. When the employee told Charkhian to leave again, an argument began. The employee began filming Charkhian with his phone and stated he would call the police. Charkhian then knocked the phone from the employee’s hand, pulled out a knife, and threatened to kill him.
The employee grabbed a plastic trash can to create distance between himself and Charkhian, who continued to make threats before fleeing the restroom with the employee’s phone. The employee later found the phone broken into pieces in a nearby parking lot.
Officers initially were unable to locate Charkhian, but after reviewing surveillance footage from nearby businesses, they identified him as the suspect.
On May 17, an officer saw Charkhian walking near Santa Rosa Park. He was located a short time later in the park’s parking lot and arrested without incident.
Charkhian was booked into San Luis Obispo County Jail on the following charges:
- Felony robbery (Penal Code 211)
- Felony assault with a deadly weapon (Penal Code 245(a)(1))
- Felony criminal threats (Penal Code 422(1))
- Felony preventing a victim from contacting law enforcement (Penal Code 136.1(b)(1))
- Misdemeanor vandalism under $400 with prior convictions (Penal Code 594(b)(2)(A))
- Misdemeanor probation violation (Penal Code 3455(A))
Charkhian is being held without bail and is not eligible for release on bond, according to the police department.
The incident is listed under case number 250516034.