2 Sought in Robbery, Stabbing at Mission Viejo Liquor Store

Authorities were searching on Wednesday for two men who ordered a Mission Viejo liquor store clerk to the floor, took cigarettes, liquor and more than $200, then stabbed him before fleeing.

Robert Paul Taublieb, 33, of Mission Viejo was in serious but stable condition Wednesday in the intensive care unit of Mission Community Hospital, where he was being treated for multiple stab wounds, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The attack on Taublieb at the Town Plaza liquor store at 8:20 p.m. Tuesday “appears to have been unprovoked,” Sheriff’s Lt. William Miller said.

Miller said two men entered the liquor store in the 25200 block of Charlinda Drive, where Taublieb was working alone. At first, Miller said, both men “wandered” around the store. Then one man sneaked behind the counter, grabbed Taublieb and forced him to the floor at knifepoint.

While the first robber held a knife to the clerk, the second took more than $200 from the cash register and grabbed cigarettes and bottles of liquor. Before leaving, Miller said the first man stabbed Taublieb several times in the chest and arm.

The robbers were seen fleeing in an “oxidized gray” older model Pontiac Bonneville two-door sedan.

Miller said Taublieb, who called sheriff’s deputies to report the robbery, was treated at the scene by county Fire Department paramedics, then rushed to the hospital. “Luckily, the knife didn’t hit any vital organs,” he said.

Sheriff’s deputies were searching for two black men in their early 20s, both about 6 feet, 2 inches tall. One was described as heavyset, with long curly black hair, wearing a red T-shirt and blue jeans. The second was described as thin, with “slicked back” black hair, wearing a dark blue shirt and dark corduroy pants.