Alarm Sends Robber Fleeing Without Loot

A skittish armed robber fled without the money through the side door of a McDonald’s restaurant on Friday afternoon after frightened employees tripped a burglar alarm as they ran out a back door.

“He was very nervous,” said Ventura County Sheriff’s Sgt. Bob Garcia shortly after the 3:30 p.m. attempted robbery at the fast-food restaurant at Las Posas and Arneill roads. “The employees didn’t give him any money, he got nervous and split.”

Deputies unsuccessfully searched the area for the robber, using a helicopter and police dog.

Wearing a ski mask, the male bandit pointed what appeared to be a semiautomatic pistol at a female cashier, demanded money and handed her a white plastic bag to put the loot in, Garcia said. The employee started to comply, but the robber ran after the alarm went off.

The entire incident lasted perhaps 30 seconds, said Dan Jurutka, director of operations for the chain that owns the franchise. Fewer than 10 employees were in the store and about a dozen customers. Not all were aware of the incident.

One person said she slept through the incident, dozing off while reading a community newspaper as her two grandchildren played on the restaurant’s playground.

“I don’t think I want to come back to this McDonald’s,” she said. “People like to go to McDonald’s and if they can’t get good hamburgers, they get good money.”

Deputies had only a sketchy description of the stocky young bandit because he did not remove the dark ski mask, Garcia said.