Police in Santa Ana are asking for help finding two men involved in back-to-back armed robberies on July 4.
Santa Ana police shared video of a robbery that occurred at a cafe on July 4, 2019.
The first incident occurred about 7:10 a.m. at the M & Toi Café, 4702 W. First St. One of the men took out a black gun from a bag and pointed it at the people inside, demanding that they put their money in the bag.
Video released by Santa Ana police Wednesday showed the men ordered the customers to get on the ground as one of them collected the victims' money. A second man who was also armed acted as a lookout. Both men left the area on foot.
The second incident occurred about 10 minutes later at Dey’s Doughnuts, 630 S. Euclid St. One man demanded that the cashier put money from the register into a bag. The victim complied after the man pointed a gun at his head while the other man stayed by the door as a lookout. Before the men ran out, the cashier threw a napkin holder at one of the men, video from the incident showed. Both men again left the area on foot.
Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said the same two men are involved in both incidents. "It’s quite apparent that they’ve done this before, they work as a team, " he said.
Since both robberies unfolded in similar ways, Bertagna said investigators are reaching out to neighboring police departments to see if the robbers have struck in other cities.
The men were described as being between 20 and 30 years old, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds.
One of the men was wearing a black hoodie, blue jeans, glasses and black gloves, and he was armed with a black or silver handgun. The man described as the lookout was wearing a black hoodie and dark sunglasses and was armed with a black handgun.
Anyone with information about the men can contact Santa Ana Police Detective Duane Greaver at 714-245-8362, dgreaver@santa-ana.org or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS.
“Help us get both off the street before something goes bad," Bertagna said.