DANA POINT : Youth Arrested in Robbery, Hijacking

A 17-year-old San Clemente youth was arrested early Saturday on suspicion of robbing two men at gunpoint outside the Harbor House Cafe and hijacking a car near the harbor, authorities said.

There were no reports of injuries in the incidents, which ended early Saturday with the suspect’s arrest at his San Clemente home, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Deputies later discovered that the weapon allegedly used by the suspect in the robberies was a BB gun designed to look like a semiautomatic handgun, Sgt. Dave Remender said.

The suspect was booked into Juvenile Hall on suspicion of two counts of robbery.

Problems started at 11:40 p.m. Friday in front of the Harbor House Cafe on Coast Highway when the suspect, whose name was not released because of his age, allegedly held up two Dana Point men, took about $20 and fled in a blue Chevrolet Blazer, Remender said.

When deputies stopped the Blazer a short time later in Capistrano Beach, they were told by a group of five teen-agers in the vehicle that the suspect had left them to steal a car from two people, Remender said.

About the same time deputies were questioning the youths, they received a report that a 1988 Chevrolet Celebrity had been stolen at gunpoint at Cove Road and the Street of the Green Lantern near Dana Point Harbor, he said.

Further details about the car robbery or the victims were not available. The five youths in the Blazer were released without charges after being questioned.

Deputies obtained a search warrant and arrested the suspect in San Clemente. The stolen car was recovered several blocks away, while the $20 and a ski mask were discovered in the suspect’s house, Remender said. Three BB guns also were confiscated, two of which were found in the Blazer, Remender said.