LOCAL : Gunmen Rob 3 More Fast-Food Restaurants in North County

Three fast-food restaurants in north Orange County were robbed at gunpoint overnight by two men who police say may have hit 28 area fast-food outlets over the past four months.

As in most of the other robberies, police said, those last night occurred between 8 and 10 o’clock while customers were still in the stores. All customers were ordered to the ground as the gunmen vaulted countertops and emptied safes and cash registers.

The first holdup Wednesday was reported at 8:50 p.m. at a Jack in the Box restaurant in the 6800 block of La Palma Avenue in Buena Park, where $365 was taken. Within an hour, two Del Taco restaurants in neighboring Cypress were robbed of between $1,000 and $1,500 each by men matching the same description as those seen at the Jack in the Box.

Although no injuries have been reported in any of the holdups, the gunmen have fired their weapons into the ground on two occasions and are believed capable of violence, said Buena Park Police Sgt. Terry Branum.

In all, the same two men are believed to have struck at 10 fast-food outlets in Buena Park since April 2, when the robberies began. Cypress is the only other Orange County city known to have been hit. The other robberies have all taken place in southeastern Los Angeles County.