OCEANSIDE
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A string of armed robberies has left clerks at several Oceanside gas stations and liquor stores on edge as they wait to see where the pair of gunmen will strike next.
Since Friday, seven businesses across the city have been hit, with the most recent holdup occurring Monday night at Balboa Liquor on Mission Avenue, police said.
Investigators suspect the same culprits may be responsible for at least two previous robberies May 26 and June 3.
“It's important we put a stop to this as soon as possible,” Oceanside Sgt. Leonard Mata said yesterday.
The robbers have gotten away with an estimated $4,500.
No one has been injured, but one store owner who didn't give his name said the robber “does a good job of scaring you.”
“He's got his gun on you the whole time,” said another owner, Steven Daoud, who was working at Coastal Market when the robber struck Friday.
Witnesses described the main suspect as a tall, thin, white man in his 20s, wearing a white bandana over his face. In some robberies he wore a blue hooded sweat shirt and blue jeans, and in others he wore a gray hooded sweat shirt.
Some store owners described the gunman as soft-spoken and not overly aggressive, saying very little during the robberies.
A second gunman, described as black, short and stocky, accompanied him during three robberies on Sunday.
He also wore a bandana over his face and black clothing. He is suspected of robbing Balboa Liquor on his own Tuesday night.
Detectives received one good lead Saturday, after a clerk at Big Liquor on Redondo Drive got into a car and chased the robbers, who were in a white Mazda getaway car. The robbers escaped.
“He never thought we'd chase,” said store manager Frank Moshi of the robber. “He came in the wrong place. He was lucky I was not around.”
The robber didn't get away with money that night because the clerk said his cash registers were empty.
Moshi said he hopes police can solve the holdups, but just in case, he has his own people on the street searching for the culprits.
“He can run, but he can't hide,” Moshi said.
Other businesses were taking their own precautions, such as staffing stores with more employees, hiring lookouts and closing earlier than usual.
“I've been here 22 years and this is the first time we've been hit,” said Martin Castillo, an auto mechanic at Bob's Gas, which was the first business robbed Friday. “We're upgrading our security system as I speak.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police at (760) 435-4911.
Kristina Davis: (760) 476-8233; kristina.davis@uniontrib.com
