SAN DIEGO – A pair of men who robbed two restaurants at gunpoint Wednesday night may also be responsible for ten other robberies around the county over the last two months, police said.
“One of the commonalities is that the suspects are wearing hoodies and they pull the hood over their head and use the drawstring to cover their face,” said Lt. Steve Shaw.
According to Shaw, the gunmen walked into the Yakyudori restaurant at 4898 Convoy Street in Kearny Mesa at 11:47 p.m. Wednesday and demanded money. They also robbed the employees of several personal belongings before running out of the back of the restaurant, Shaw said.
One of the suspects pistol-whipped a worker in the head with a handgun during the robbery. The worker was treated for minor injuries.
“He got hit hard enough to bleed,” said Rjymmia Depai.
Depai works at Yakyudori. He told Fox 5 the armed bandits came into the restaurant just before closing.
“We were about to close, nobody’s there and they just kind of busted in through the back,” said Depai.
The suspects are both described as black males between 20 and 30 years old around 6’1″, and each was last seen wearing dark hoodies and dark pants.
Police said the details of the robbery at the Yakyudori Restaurant matched those of another robbery that happened earlier in the evening at a Little Caesars in Rancho Bernardo. The first robbery was reported just before 10:30 p.m. on Bernardo Center Drive. No employees in that incident were hurt. The descriptions of Little Caesars robbers matched those in the second robbery.
San Diego police believe Wednesday night’s two robberies are connected to a string of similar armed robberies throughout the area dating back to December 15th. The most targeted area has been Northern with five cases — four in the La Jolla area and one in the Clairemont area.
1. December 15, 2014 Lincoln Tax Services, 3944 Illinois Street
2. December 16, 2014 Living Spinal, 7340 Trade Street, Unit F
3. December 16, 2014 La Jolla Village Lodge, 1141 Silverado Street
4. December 17, 2014 The Wineding Shoe a Salon & lounge, 3603 4th Avenue
5. December 17, 2014 Los 2 Pedros Taco Shop, 723 Turquoise Street
6. December 23, 2014 Sands of La Jolla, 5417 La Jolla Blvd
7. December 23, 2014 Subway, 3445 Midway Drive
8. December 27, 2014 Saracia Shannahan, 1100 Silverado, (Attempt Pedestrian Robbery)
9. December 27, 2014 Shakeaway, 723 Pearl
10. January 5, 2015 Home Bar Liquor, 3550 Ashford Street
The suspects in this series have shown no consistent pattern in the type of business they target or how many suspects enter the business during the robbery. They have committed robberies with one, two and three suspects entering the business, sometimes armed with a handgun, knife, or combination of handgun, knife and unarmed.Their clothing has been described as plain, lacking any insignias or designs and generally dark colored hoodies or long sleeve shirts.
Their clothing has been described as plain, lacking any insignias or designs and generally dark colored hoodies or long sleeve shirts. Their demeanor has been demanding and forceful but lacking the use of vulgarity. In general the suspects have used phrases such as, “Open the register, give me the cash, where’s the safe?”
No vehicle has been positively identified. However, due to proximity of the back-to-back robberies it is believed they have a vehicle.
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