Robbers Get Officer’s Cash, Lose 2 Weapons in Scuffle

An off-duty Santa Ana police officer was mugged by two armed men outside a Main Street bar early Monday but managed to disarm the robbers before they fled with his wallet and about $23, police said.

The officer, Richard Flores, 39, who was out of uniform, suffered facial injuries in the scuffle. He was treated at Western Medical Center and released, according to Sgt. Randy Eldridge.

“Maybe they thought they were robbing just some ordinary citizen,” Eldridge said.

Flores left the bar, in the 500 block of South Main Street, at about 12:40 a.m. to go to his car for some photographs to show a friend, police said. It was then that he was approached by the two men, who carried pistols and demanded money.

After taking Flores’ wallet, the gunmen forced him into his car, Eldridge said. One of the robbers then held both guns to Flores’ head while the other tried to start the car, police said.

Flores knocked one of the guns, a pellet pistol, out of the robber’s grasp, and a struggle for the second gun, a .357 magnum revolver, ensued. During the fight, Flores was kicked in the face several times but managed to commandeer the revolver, police said.

The disarmed muggers fled in a car that may have been a 1973, ’74 or ’75 Chevrolet with two-tone paint, possibly red and cream, police said. One of the assailants is believed to have suffered head injuries. Flores has been with the Police Department three years.