Orange : Police Seek Woman in Armed Robberies

Police have appealed to the public to help find a young woman suspected of 10 armed robberies, mostly of small businesses along North Tustin Avenue.

The robberies began Oct. 28, police said, with the latest being committed on Monday. So far, the woman has stolen about $3,700, officers added.

Police described her as white, between 18 and 26 years old, about 5 feet, 5 inches to 5 feet, 9 inches tall, of thin build weighing about 110 to 120 pounds, with shoulder-length, brownish-blonde hair sometimes worn in a bun or ponytail. She usually wears a denim jacket and carries a large green purse or khaki backpack. She sometimes has worn oval glasses.

In nine of the robberies, she has entered small retail shops with few employees, pulled a 6-inch, blue-steel revolver and demanded money, police said. On one occasion, she knocked at a home, asked to use the telephone and then pulled a gun on the resident.

She has been seen using three different getaway vehicles: a dark-colored Honda motorcycle with a license plate beginning “1P” driven by a 6-foot, dark-haired man; a 1967 to 1973 dark-brown or maroon mid-size Chevrolet with a red-and-white decal on the trunk lid, and a 1980s white Chevrolet El Camino pickup truck.

All of the robberies have occurred along North Tustin Avenue between Walnut and Collins avenues and in the vicinity of North Tustin and Katella avenues, police said. They said she may live in the area.

Police asked anyone with information about the suspect to call the city’s Police Department.