The Region : Patient Gunman Gets $50,000 in Heist

A masked gunman surprised a Torrance theater manager and a Brinks security guard and made off with $50,000 in cash from weekend receipts, police said. “The guy apparently hid in the theater overnight and surprised the manager when he came in,” Torrance police Lt. Robert Armstrong said. The robber, who was wearing a ski mask and armed with a handgun, ordered the manager to open the safe at the Mann Theater in the Old Town Mall. “But since two keys--the manager’s and the security guard’s--are needed to open the safe, the guy waited,” Armstrong said. The Brinks Inc. Armored Car security guard arrived about 15 minutes later, Armstrong said, and was also surprised by the robber. The gunman forced the manager and the guard to open the safe, shoved the cash into a trash bag and fled, Armstrong said.