Restaurant Owner Is Stuffed in Car Trunk During Robbery

The owner of a smorgasbord restaurant was robbed at gunpoint and kidnapped in his own vehicle by two men Friday, police reported.

Helge Hensen, proprietor of the Nordic Inn, 3577 Midway Drive, was leaving around 9:20 p.m. when he was approached by two men. The men first robbed him of the cash receipts at gunpoint and then forced Hensen into the passenger compartment of his car.

A cap was placed over Hensen’s head, and he was later forced into the car’s trunk.

The men drove around for several hours. California Highway Patrol officers attempted to pull the car over for what they suspected to be drunken driving but were fired at by the suspects. No one was hit, but a round struck the cruiser’s radiator, preventing the officers from pursuing the suspects.

The suspects drove to 3000 Rue D’Orleans, where they abandoned the car with Hensen still in the trunk. When Hensen realized the suspects had left, he banged on the trunk door for about 25 minutes. A passer-by released him.

The first suspect was described as a white male in his late 30s, with short, graying black hair and several days’ beard growth. The second suspect was described as a male, possibly black, in his late 20s, with short, dark curly hair.