3 Gas Stations Hit by Robbers

Robbers victimized three convenience store gas stations within five hours Saturday, and police suspect at least two of the crimes were the work of the same man, police said Sunday.

In the first of the two apparently related robberies Saturday night, an Arco gas station in the 8900 block of Adams Avenue was robbed of more than $300 in cash by a man in his mid-20s who told the clerk he had a gun in a blue vinyl handbag.

Two hours later, at 10:55 p.m., the Chevron gas station across the street was also victimized, by a pistol-wielding robber with very bleached blond hair and distinctive brown eyes, police said.

“He told the cashier to ‘give me all the money’ and fled on foot,” Sgt. Anthony Sollecito said.

Police said the description matched that of the robber who had struck across the street earlier in the evening.

The other robbery took place at 4:22 p.m. at an Arco gas station in the 21400 block of Brookhurst Street. A man in his early 20s wearing white pants, white shirt and a “dirty white sweater” asked for change and then demanded money from the female cashier. He escaped with $400, getting into a 1992 silver Ford Tempo that was driven by another man, Sollecito said.