Manager Raped, Robbed While Opening Eatery : Crime: Two assailants force woman into Corona del Mar restaurant and escape with money from safe after attack.

Two men, one armed with a handgun, sexually assaulted and robbed a restaurant manager early Wednesday as she opened the establishment for the day, police said.

The manager was confronted about 4:50 a.m. as she unlocked the restaurant in the 3400 block of East Coast Highway, Police Sgt. Andy Gonis said. As the gunman ordered her inside, the unarmed accomplice followed them to an office at the restaurant’s rear.

The men ordered the manager to open the safe and took an undetermined amount of cash, Gonis said. The men then bound the manager, and one of them punched her in the face and stomach and raped her, Gonis said.

After the attackers fled, the manager freed herself and called police. She was treated at a nearby hospital and released, Gonis said.

Because of the nature of the crime, the name of the restaurant is being withheld.

Both attackers were described as Latinos wearing dark clothes. The armed man was from 28 to 33 years old and had a thick mustache. He is 5-foot-10 to 6-foot, of average build and was wearing a dark jacket and a dark-colored cap.

The second man was described as 20 to 25, 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-8, also of average build and wearing a black jacket.

Investigators are asking that anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area from 4:30 to 5 a.m. to call police at (714) 644-3730.