Citizens Help Officers Arrest Two Suspects

Tuesday night was not a good night for two suspects in an attempted robbery and burglary in Orange County.

In Cypress, a grocery store owner batted away the toy gun of a man who was trying to rob his store. Police arrested a suspect hiding in a back yard after the owner’s son chased him five blocks.

Leroy Clarence Gonya, 21, of Long Beach was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of attempted robbery at J & B Food Market in Cypress. He is being held at Orange County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail, police said.

Meanwhile, in Fountain Valley, a burglary suspect in an unrelated case escaped from police but was chased and wrestled to the ground by the resident whose home he allegedly had tried to burglarize. The resident held the suspect until police arrived.

Timothy K. Bertram, 21, of Long Beach was arrested on burglary and vehicle theft charges. He is being held at Orange County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail, police said.

Cypress police said Gonya entered the market Tuesday night wearing a nylon stocking over his head and holding what appeared to be a gun under his shirt.

Saad Saba, 23, who works at the store with his father, Bandaly Saba, 55, said Gonya demanded all of their money and reached for his father’s wallet. Bandaly Saba, owner of the store robbed of $150 earlier this year, knocked the gun out of Gonya’s hand, the son said. When the gun broke into pieces on the floor, the younger Saba said he realized that it was fake. He grabbed a mop handle and chased Gonya out of the store.

Saad Saba chased Gonya for about five blocks when Gonya dropped into a back yard on Shasta Circle, he said. Saad Saba said he asked neighbors who were outside to keep an eye out for the man. He called police, who found Gonya hiding in bushes in a back yard in the 4500 block of Shasta Circle.

“I didn’t know whether (the gun) was real or plastic at first,” Saad Saba said. “Luckily, it was plastic.”

Cypress Police Sgt. Larry Bandy said he does not recommend that everyone take that sort of action in an armed robbery.

“He (Bandaly Saba) got lucky,” Bandy said. “He rolled the dice, and they came up right for him. But it could have easily ended up differently.”

Several hours later in Fountain Valley, Timothy Gilmore, 29, was awakened by a burglar who had entered his home by prying open a ground-floor window.

Gilmore yelled and a man ran out of the house. Gilmore in pursued him.

Police said they found Bertram hiding across the street in a car reported as stolen in Anaheim hours earlier.

Police searched Bertram for weapons, but before Bertram could be handcuffed, he broke away and ran down a hill, Gilmore said.

Gilmore said he gave chase and tackled Bertram nearby, wrestling him to the ground and holding him until police arrived.

“He saw a good opportunity to be helpful, and he did it,” Fountain Valley Police Sgt. Larry Griswold said.