NEWPORT BEACH : Masked Robber Gets $22,000 at Restaurant

A masked gunman escaped with more than $22,000 from Newport Landing, the entire receipts from the busiest weekend ever for the Fun Zone restaurant, police said Tuesday.

It was 2:30 a.m. Monday and manager Michael Pavlin had already stashed the record $22,000 in cash and credit card receipts in his office safe. Bartenders David Dwyre and Ben Swenson were tallying their tips. They had counted up $100 when a man dressed in black and wearing a ski mask burst into the office, brandishing a handgun, Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said.

The robber threw down two pairs of handcuffs and ordered Swenson to handcuff Dwyre.

“I put one side on but the other side wouldn’t snap,” Swenson said Tuesday. “He apparently took offense and punched me on my head.”

After the robber handcuffed Dwyre, he forced Swenson to kneel, held the gun to the back of his head, and slapped the second pair of handcuffs on the bartender’s wrists.

Swenson who has worked at the restaurant for the past 2 1/2 years, said: “I kept thinking, ‘I hope he doesn’t shoot us. And if he shoots, I hope he shoots me first. I don’t want to wait for the third bullet.’ ”

Gonis said the robber forced Pavlin to open the safe. He then tied the manager with duct tape, grabbed the money, including the bartenders’ tips, and fled.

Pavlin wriggled out of the tape and called police, who had to use a bolt cutter to free the other men.

Swenson said he believed that the bandit had hidden in the restaurant before closing hours.

“It was pouring outside and he was dry when he came in the office,” Swenson said. “He had to be inside for a long time.”

Gonis said it “appeared to be a well-planned job. (The robber) picked an unusual time of the morning, and he brought in his own handcuffs and tape. He knew what he was doing.”

John Bullard, the restaurant’s general manager, said it was the only armed robbery in the Fun Zone in recent memory.

“I’m upset and mad,” Bullard said. “But I thank God that no one got hurt.”