4 Girls Foiled in Attempt to Rob Doughnut Shop

Police were searching Monday for four teen-age girls who they say tried to rob a Santa Monica doughnut shop and then pulled a gun on its Asian owner and his daughter and shouted racial slurs.

Police said they were considering the case an attempted armed robbery, and not a hate crime, because the girls appeared to be primarily interested in stealing glazed cinnamon buns. The unidentified suspects are all Latino females, ages 15 to 18, who were last seen wearing Lakers shirts and black headbands, said Santa Monica Police Sgt. Bill Brucker.

The apparent leader of the girls jumped the counter in the shop at 1551 Ocean Ave. about 7 p.m. Sunday but was pushed out by the shop owner’s 20-year-old daughter, Brucker said. He said the girl returned with her three friends and was chased into a nearby alley and detained by the woman. Another assailant pointed a gun at the shop owner’s head and demanded that her friend be released, Brucker said.