Local News in Brief : Huntington Beach : Robbers Lock Up 26, Escape With $4,500
Two armed robbers rounded up 26 employees and customers at a Coco’s Family Restaurant in Huntington Beach on Wednesday night and escaped with about $4,500, police said. No one was reported injured.
The robbers herded the women into a restroom and the men into a cold-storage locker, Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Ron Jenkins said. Before fleeing, the thieves turned off the refrigeration.
At about 10:30 p.m. the two men walked into the restaurant at 6886 Bolsa Ave. One suspect approached the cash register and told the manager, “This is a robbery.” He then waved a semiautomatic pistol.
He told the manager to order the customers and employees into the kitchen and to surrender their wallets and purses, police said. His accomplice, holding a kitchen knife, then tied the victims’ hands behind their backs with twine before locking up the captives.
After about 15 minutes, some victims managed to wriggle free and call police. Both robbers escaped, police said.
The restaurant manager declined Thursday to discuss the holdup.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
