A man armed with what Los Alamitos Police believe was a semi-automatic pistol robbed the Starbucks at 3575 Katella Ave., at about 4:30 a.m., on Friday, March 15.
A man armed with what Los Alamitos Police believe was a semi-automatic pistol robbed the Starbucks at 3575 Katella Ave., at about 4:30 a.m., on Friday, March 15.
The police are looking for the suspect and the driver of the getaway car. Both suspects were described as black. Two employees were in the coffee shop at the time. Neither victim was physically harmed.
Los Alamitos Police Capt. Bruce McAlpine said the department would not release the amount of money taken in the crime. The suspect entered the coffee shop and demanded money from the employee who was working behind the counter.
“The suspect pointed what appeared to be a silver semi-automatic handgun at the employee while making his demands,” McAlpine said. “The employee was unable to open the registers or the business safe, so the suspect walked the employee, at gunpoint, into the rear of the store where the manager was doing paperwork and demanded that the manager open the registers and safe.”
The manager followed the suspect’s directions. The suspect told the two Starbucks employees to kneel and put the store’s money into a Starbuck’s bag. The suspect then left the coffee shop and got into a waiting vehicle.
The armed suspect was described as a medium build man, black, in his 20s, approximately 6 feet 1 inch tall, weighing 175 pounds, wearing a black ski mask and black gloves. He also had brown dreadlocks and was wearing a black security uniform jacket embossed with “Officer Private Security” on the front, black pants and shoes.
The second suspect was described as a thin man, black, in his 20s, 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet tall, weighting 150 pounds, wearing a dark shirt and light colored pants.
The make and model of the suspects’ car is unknown.
There were 12 robberies reported in Los Alamitos last year, up 140 percent from the five reported in 2011.