Armed Robbery Panics Mall’s Shoppers
Panicked shoppers and diners fled for safety Wednesday at South Coast Plaza when four to six armed robbers accosted two jewelry salesmen outside Macy’s, stealing briefcases containing jewelry worth about $750,000, witnesses and police said.
About 6:20 p.m., two salesmen from out of state carrying briefcases were walking toward their car when at least four gun-toting men, three wearing red and white, baseball-type uniforms, approached them, police and witnesses at a Macy’s valet parking station and the nearby Wolfgang Puck Cafe said.
The robbers “got out of a car and ran toward the parking lot over there,” said Paul Ewell, pointing to a dimly lighted area outside of Macy’s. “I walked over there to see what was going on, and an old lady driving in a white Mercedes-Benz told me to get away. They had guns.”
Ewell, 22, an employee at the Macy’s parking station, called police.
Ewell and two other witnesses said the robbers apparently chased the men and ordered them to lie on the ground, then took their briefcases. As one of the victims got up and ran away, a robber chased him toward the mall, said Cynthia Lanelliott, Wolfgang Puck’s general manager.
Lanelliott, who was standing in a patio area of the restaurant and saw the chase, said the assailant was armed. After the victim ran inside the mall, the assailant circled back to the parking lot and left the area, Lanelliott said.
Employees at Wolfgang Puck’s and nearby shops evacuated their customers from patio dining areas.
“People started screaming, ‘Gun! Gun! Gun!’ ” Lanelliott said. “A lot of people panicked and ran inside the mall. . . . We moved everybody inside as far away from the window as we could.”
Larry Abrams, 27, also a Wolfgang Puck employee, said he began moving customers indoors after he saw a man in a suit running and “looking very scared.” He said customers were kept out of the patio area for more than 30 minutes.
The robbers, who left in two cars, remained at large Wednesday night. One of the cars was a gray Toyota Camry, the other a red or maroon two-door Chevrolet.
