Robber With UZI Weapon Gets $1,100 at Radio Shack

A robber, believed to be carrying a UZI submachine gun, held up a Westminster electronics store Wednesday and fled with cash and several video cassette recorders, police said.

No shots were fired and no one was injured in the holdup of the Radio Shack near Brookhurst Street and McFadden Avenue, Westminster Police Lt. David Wiggs said.

Assistant store manager Duncan McEwan said that one man entered the store at about 10:55 a.m. and waited for a customer to leave before he walked up to the counter. Pointing to the cash register, the robber demanded “everything!” according to McEwan.

The robber then opened his army-style fatigue jacket and pulled out the weapon, McEwan said.

“The money’s insured. Take it!” McEwan told him, after recognizing the weapon as an UZI, a small but powerful 9-millimeter automatic weapon. The weapon is illegal in California. McEwan said the robber took about $1,100 in cash.

Forced Into Bathroom

The robber forced McEwan into a bathroom at the rear of the store but the thief wasn’t finished. “He came back and asked where the VCRs were,” McEwan said, “just as if he were a customer.”

The assistant manager said he was able to identify the weapon based on past military experience and also through studio sound work on the television series, “The A-Team.”

The robber walked out of the store, apparently joining an accomplice, and they fled in a car, authorities said.

Police said two men were involved in the armed robbery. The man who confronted McEwan was described as black, about 6 feet, in his 30s, with short, slicked-back hair. He weighed about 140 pounds and was wearing jeans in addition to the army-style jacket. The second man, also black, weighed about 180 pounds and stood 5-foot-10, police said.