3 Arrested After Gas Station Robbery

Three men were arrested on suspicion of robbery early Monday, minutes after they allegedly sped from a gas station with a safe stuffed with cash, police said.

Shortly before 2 a.m., a man entered the Texaco Service Center in the 1600 block of Jamboree Road and forced a 22-year-old employee to the ground at gunpoint, Sgt. John Desmond said. The robber bound the victim’s hands and feet with tape, Desmond said.

While the employee was held at gunpoint, two other men emptied the cash register and removed a small safe that contained more money, police said. The trio then drove west on Pacific Coast Highway, and the victim freed himself and called for help, Desmond said.

Officers stopped the suspects’ car 10 minutes later and seized two handguns, packets of cash and gloves, police said. The suspects, booked into Newport Beach Jail, were identified as Franklin Pimentel Hernandez, 23, address unknown; Marcos Bosquet, 20, of Costa Mesa; and Jose Orlando Matta, 24, of Newport Beach, a former employee of the Texaco station.