Local News in Brief : Costa Mesa : Gas Station Attendant Robbed; 2 Men Held

Two men were in custody Thursday after a gas station attendant was robbed at gunpoint and his car stolen, authorities said.

Costa Mesa police said John Slaughter, 21, of Garden Grove and Terrance Daniels, 24, of Santa Ana were arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and auto theft shortly after the robbery at 12:35 a.m. at the Exxon station in the 2500 block of Harbor Boulevard.

Costa Mesa Police Lt. Gary Webster said that two men wearing ski masks approached the station attendant, who was working alone, and demanded money. One of the men was carrying a blue steel revolver, Webster said.

After the attendant gave the men an undetermined amount of money, they took the keys to his Toyota Celica and fled east on Fair Drive.

The car was spotted about a mile away, and patrol officers and a police helicopter followed it to Helena Circle, where the two left the car, running in different directions. Both were captured a short time later.

Webster said that two men “fitting the same basic description” robbed a man in the 4400 block of 1st Street in Santa Ana about 9 p.m. Wednesday. Police said that one of the robbers in that incident carried a blue steel revolver, that both wore ski masks and that they drove off in the victim’s car after he gave them money.