Armed man robs Santa Ana hotel, attempts to rob Irvine 7-Eleven, could be connected to more robberies
SANTA ANA — A man wearing a ski mask and using a gun robbed a hotel in Santa Ana, then attempted to rob a convenience store in Irvine, and authorities said Thursday morning that he may be connected to other robberies carried out in Orange County this week.
About 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, the man walked into the Courtyard by Marriott near MacArthur Boulevard and Main Street in Santa Ana, pulled a gun and robbed the hotel of $600, according to Sgt. L. Barragan of the Santa Ana Police Department.
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Approximately 11 p.m., a man wearing a ski mask and black clothes walked into the 7-Eleven near Irvine Center and Research drives and flashed a gun but did not get any money, Irvine police Sgt. Mike Meyers said.
“He came in here, one guy (yelling) ‘money, money, money,’” 7-Eleven clerk Ashewani Kumar told a news photographer at the scene.
Kumar said he continued to yell at the armed man until he left the store.
“Get out! No money! You go! Go!”
He said he was not scared during the entire encounter.
“God is my helper,” Kumar said.
The suspect was believed to be linked to other armed robberies in Orange County this week, Meyers said.
The two locations are about 10 miles apart.
On Monday night, between 10:45 p.m. and 11:15 p.m., two liquor stores in Mission Viejo were robbed at gunpoint, each by men wearing hoodies and masks who showed a gun and took an unknown amount of cash from each location, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said.
A detailed description of the suspect or suspects was not immediately available.
No one was hurt in any of the incidents.