Laguna Hills : 2 Men Arrested After Restaurant Robbery

Two men who allegedly robbed a Laguna Hills restaurant of less than $100 were chased by helicopter and arrested, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said Monday.

Lt. Dick Olson said Michael Duran Cabrera, 26, and Fernando Zazueta Gonzales, 30, both of Santa Ana, were booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of armed robbery.

Cabrera, an unemployed welder, and Gonzales, an unemployed machine operator, were being held on $50,000 bail each, Olson said.

The robbery occurred at 11 p.m. Sunday. Olson said a man entered Bob’s Big Boy restaurant at 23952 Avenida de la Carlota, approached the cashier, brandished a blue steel revolver and demanded cash. The restaurant’s cash register was open, and the man reached over and grabbed bills from it, then fled, Olson said.

Another employee saw the man climb into a Chevrolet van and leave the restaurant parking lot, Olson said, and descriptions of the suspect and getaway vehicle were broadcast over law enforcement radios.

A short time later, a van answering the description was seen from a Sheriff’s Department helicopter and chased into Santa Ana.

Deputies on the ground stopped the van in the area of 17th and Dorman streets and detained the two men inside until the employee could identify them, Olson said.