Employee Named Suspect in Restaurant Robberies

A fast-food restaurant employee who recently had told police he was robbed at gunpoint at the eatery was arrested Friday for taking part in that incident and another robbery, police said.

Jesus Ponce, 22, of the City of Industry and Omar Arteaga, 27, of Rolling Heights were booked on suspicion of armed robbery after police stopped them on Lemon Street because they matched the description of the gunmen in the second robbery.

Ponce, an employee at the El Pollo Loco on East Orangethorpe Avenue, claimed he was held up last week as he tended the drive-through window, Sgt. Steve Matson said. That robber escaped with $400. But police now believe that man was Arteaga, to whom Ponce willingly turned over the money, Matson said.

On Friday, two gunmen with their faces covered--one with nylons and the other with a scarf--robbed the same restaurant about 11 p.m. They fled with an undisclosed amount of money, Matson said.

Police later spotted two men who matched the robbers’ descriptions on the Riverside Freeway, Matson said. When police pulled them off the freeway at Lemon Street, the men were throwing two semiautomatic weapons, latex gloves and a waste can filled with money out of the car window, Matson said.

Ponce, who had been working at El Pollo Loco for six weeks, was also booked on suspicion of grand theft for the “phony robbery,” Matson said.

The two men are suspects in similar robberies in June at fast-food restaurants in Buena Park and Anaheim.

Police requested that anyone with information contact Detective Dan Bohling at (714) 738-3301.