Gang Of Robbers Wearing Same Distinctive Hoodie Believed To Be Behind Rash Of OC Thefts
STANTON (CBS) — Authorities believe a man wearing a hoodie during a Stanton convenience store robbery is the same robber arrested for a holdup at a nearby store.
In the latest holdup, a suspect described as a black man with a mustache about 6 feet tall and 160 pounds walked into a Shell convenience store at 8971 Katella Ave. about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, grabbed a soft drink and took it to the register, sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said.
When the clerk, who happened to be working his first shift at the store, opened the register, the man pulled out a semiautomatic pistol and told him to put all the cash in a plastic bag, Amormino said. The suspect walked away from the scene.
The clerk quit his new job immediately after the robbery.
"Now, here's the twist," Amormino said. "A couple of days ago, a guy who robbed a nearby (convenience store) was wearing the same distinctive hoodie."
The suspect in the previous holdup, which happened at Katella and Gilbert Street, was in jail at the time of Tuesday's holdup. However, the two holdups happened in similar ways, and the guns in each robbery looked alike.
Detectives don't believe the similarities are a coincidence because several other recent convenience store robberies fit the same pattern, said Amormino.
"We believe it's a gang working robberies," he said.
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