Police Seeking 2 Suspects After Robberies, Assault

Police are looking for two men suspected of robbing three people, assaulting one of them at an automated teller machine, in a six-hour spree late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

The first incident occurred at a Lamppost Pizza on Beach Boulevard, where a manager told police two men flashed a chrome pistol and demanded that he open the safe. The restaurant had just closed for the night, at 11 p.m., but the manager hadn’t yet locked the front doors, police said.

The robbers escaped with $2,200 in cash, Lt. Luis Ochoa said.

About four hours later, two men confronted a man at the cash machine at a Bank of America branch on Beach Boulevard and ordered him to withdraw money, police said. Before the victim could respond, he was punched by one of the men, who then took his wallet. The men drove away in a small white car, escaping with about $100, police said.

A few hours later, two men approached a 46-year-old Huntington Beach man at the cash machine at a Wells Fargo Bank on Bolsa Avenue, displayed a handgun and demanded that he withdraw cash, police said. He tried to comply, but the machine malfunctioned, Ochoa said.

“It wouldn’t dispense any money,” he said. “They took the victim’s wallet and fled on foot.”

In each incident, the men were described as African American, in their early 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and stockily built. One wore a dark T-shirt, the other a black sweatshirt, police said.

Anyone with information about the robberies is asked to call the Huntington Beach Police Department at (714) 860-8809.