3 Teen-Agers Held After Robbery at Automated Teller

Three Santa Ana teen-agers were arrested on suspicion of robbing a man at an automated teller machine that was also the location of two other recent robberies, police said Sunday.

The teen-agers, whose names were not released because of their ages, were arrested by Officer Tom Both about 8:25 p.m. Saturday near the junction of Quail and Dove streets, Detective Bill Hartford said.

Two of the suspects are 17 years old and the other is 15, Hartford said. They are being held at Juvenile Hall.

The victim, a Newport Beach resident who was not identified, told police he was at the Bank of America outdoor automated teller machine in Eastbluff Shopping Center at 7:50 p.m. when a youth with a gun approached him and demanded cash, Hartford said. The victim gave up $57 and the bandit fled in a black and white Chevrolet Chevelle.

The victim ran to a nearby Hughes Market, called 911 and gave police a description of the suspects and the getaway car, Hartford said.

The three teen-agers were spotted and arrested without further incident, and the cash was recovered, Hartford said.

The gun, which the victim had described as a semiautomatic handgun, turned out to be a pellet gun that “looks pretty close like a semiautomatic,” Hartford said.

According to the officer, the victim did just what police suggest someone do during a robbery.

“You should comply with the suspects’ demands and then immediately call us and give us as much of a physical and vehicle description as you can,” Hartford said.

Hartford said the three teen-agers are not considered suspects in the earlier robberies, but that “it is very rare to have these incidents at that specific location.”