3 Men Arrested in Robbery May Be Linked to Other Cases

A regional police task force arrested three men on suspicion of robbing a local liquor store and is investigating their possible connection to other recent robberies in the area, police said Saturday.

After an investigation, which included a 2 1/2-day stakeout, police arrested two brothers and their uncle Friday after the robbery at Neighborhood Liquor at 9461 Edinger Ave. in Westminster, said Lt. Luis Ochoa of Huntington Beach police, which released information on the holdup.

Officers from Anaheim, Huntington Beach and Irvine recovered $112 and a six-pack of beer taken in the robbery, as well as a loaded .44-caliber revolver allegedly used by one of the men.

Antonio Vergara, of Garden Grove, and his nephews Gabriel Vergara, 22, and Raphael Vergara, 18, both of Anaheim, were being held Saturday in the Huntington Beach City Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail each.

Ochoa said that the investigation has broadened to include recent robberies in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Irvine and Fountain Valley. In each case, gun-wielding robbers held up the stores. During the robbery in Irvine, Ochoa said, one of the robbers fired four shots at a clerk but missed.