Two Employees Held as Suspects in Restaurant Armed Robbery

Two employees of a McDonald’s restaurant--including one in management training--were arrested after they disguised themselves and robbed the place, holding a gun on their boss, authorities said Friday.

One of the suspected robbers was shot in the leg by a pursuing police officer.

Two men, wearing ski masks and disguising their voices, robbed the McDonald’s restaurant at 740 N. Euclid St. with a handgun about 11:15 p.m. Thursday, Sgt. Phillip Lock said.

Police said the manager didn’t recognize the robbers and was shocked when he recognized his employees after the arrests.

When police arrived, the robbers were driving away without headlights. A patrol sergeant chased a van north on Euclid Street into Fullerton, where the van driver lost control while turning into the Orange Fair Mall at Orangethorpe Avenue and Harbor Boulevard, Lock said.

After the van went over a curb and hit a parked car, the occupants started running and did not stop as ordered, Lock said. The sergeant then fired once, hitting Jose Antonio Garcia, 25, of Anaheim in the leg. Police said Garcia is a management trainee at the restaurant.

He was treated for the wound at Western Medical Center-Anaheim and held at the City Jail on $50,000 bail, Lock said.

The second suspect, a 17-year-old boy whose name was not released because of his age, was taken to Juvenile Hall.

“They were both employees of that McDonald’s,” Lock said.

In the van officers found ski masks, a handgun and money taken from the restaurant, Sgt. Steve Rodig said. He would not specify the amount stolen.

The two face charges of robbery and felony evasion of police, Rodig said.

As is routine in all officer-involved shootings, the Orange County district attorney’s office is investigating, Lock said.