Three Arrested in Robbery of Fountain Valley Restaurant

Three suspects in the holdup of a Fountain Valley restaurant were arrested Monday after a Garden Grove patrolman stopped a pickup truck matching the description of the getaway vehicle, police said.

Garden Grove Police Officer Larry Cable stopped the truck and detained two men and a woman within an hour after an armed robbery at the Cattleman’s Ranch Restaurant at 11:36 a.m. Monday, Fountain Valley Police Lt. Rod Gillman said.

According to Gillman, two men armed with handguns slipped through an unlocked service door at the restaurant in the 18900 block of Magnolia Street and ordered the manager and a delivery man to lie on the floor.

One of the gunmen fired a shot into a restaurant wall.

The robbers escaped with a box containing $1,500 in cash, as well as a wallet containing $450 from the deliveryman, and a purse containing $2, credit cards and identification from a restaurant worker, Gillman said.

The victims’ description of the robbers and the getaway car was broadcast over countywide police radio frequencies. About 12:30 p.m., Officer Cable stopped a truck matching the description near Magnolia Street and the Garden Grove Freeway, Gillman said.

Arrested on suspicion of armed robbery were Russell F. Slider, 32, of Westminster; David A. Jepsen, 27, of Midway City, and Carol Y. Jepsen, 41, also of Midway City. Carol Jepsen also was booked on suspicion of receiving stolen property, Gillman said. All three were being held on $50,000 bail in the Orange County Jail.

Gillman said $960.10 in cash was recovered at the time of the arrest, along with credit cards and identification believed to have been stolen in a Huntington Beach robbery about a week ago.