Robbers lock worker in fridge

A takeover-style robbery inside a Costa Mesa pharmacy resulted in one employee locked in a large cooler while two men cleaned out the store’s registers and safe, police said.

There were no customers shopping at 10 p.m. Sunday at the Rite Aid in the 2300 block of Harbor Boulevard when two men entered, one with a handgun, police said.

The men told a female employee to close and lock the front entrance and then locked the male co-worker in the cooler where beverages are stored, Lt. Clay Epperson said.

The two men then emptied out the cash registers into a large laundry bag before opening the safe in the back of the pharmacy, police said.

Store employees described both robbers as black, 30-something, heavy-set men. One of the men was clad in a dark-blue hooded jacket, blue pants and black shoes, while the other wore sweat pants, a sweat shirt and ski mask, police said.

Police were notified by the female employee once the men left the store through a side door, police said.

They were last seen walking north along Harbor Boulevard, witnesses told police.

No one was injured during the robbery and the man locked in the cooler was able to get out after the suspects left, police said.

KELLY STRODL may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at kelly.strodl@latimes.com.