SAN DIEGO: A robber with a possibly fake gun and fake beard ordered 20 people to the floor as he took cash at a University Heights credit union yesterday, police said.
The takeover-style robbery occurred at California Coast Credit Union on Park Boulevard near Meade Avenue shortly before 5 p.m.
When the robber walked in, he told customers and about a half-dozen employees to lie on the floor. He jumped over a counter, emptied the teller drawers of less than $1,000 and grabbed an empty canvas cash bag, San Diego police Sgt. Rich Nemetz said.
As he moved around the business, the robber talked on a wireless cell phone headset to someone police suspect was an accomplice. He jumped back over the counter and left.
Police said his black handgun looked like plastic and he may have worn a false beard. He was described as white, in his 30s, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 170 pounds with a muscular build. He wore black pants and a red-billed ball cap under a black sweat shirt hood.
–P.R.
3 serial robbery suspects apprehended after chase
MISSION VALLEY: Three men suspected of robbing a Mission Valley hotel and shooting at a security guard Wednesday night were arrested less than two hours later after a short police pursuit ended in a crash.
Officers eventually connected the men to four other holdups in the City Heights area Wednesday and believe they were looking to commit another robbery when they were caught.
Patrol officers spotted a white Honda Civic in City Heights shortly after 1 a.m. on Fairmount Avenue near Olive Street and tried to pull it over. After a short chase, the car crashed on University Avenue near 58th Street.
Police said evidence from a robbery at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Mission Valley was found inside the car.
The robbers fired at a security guard who followed them outside the hotel. The guard was hit by a projectile but was not injured, which is why police believe the weapon was a pellet gun.
The guard followed the fleeing robbers in a car but lost them.
Police said the suspects may be the same men who fired a shot while robbing an E-Z Wireless store on Euclid Avenue near 54th Street in City Heights on Wednesday afternoon.
They also are suspected of robbing Nate's Cafe on Euclid Avenue near Home Avenue, Guatemala Market on University Avenue near 43rd Street and a 99 cents store on Euclid near Wightman Street, all between 2:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
–K.K.
Officer shoots parolee following pursuit on foot
CHULA VISTA: A Chula Vista police officer shot and wounded a man he thought was reaching for a gun Wednesday night during a chase through a residential neighborhood, police said.
The man, identified as Jesus Javier Ortega, 29, of Chula Vista, was taken to a hospital, treated for an abdominal wound and listed in serious condition, police said. They said Ortega is a state prison parolee.
The incident started about 9:15 p.m. when Officer Matt Coulson tried to pull the man over as he was driving west on Orange Avenue near Third Avenue, police said. He turned right on Quintard Street, then slowed down, jumped out of the moving vehicle and ran.
The man sprinted into a yard and was trying to climb over a fence when Coulson shot him with a Taser stun gun, which seemed to have no effect, police said.
When the man reached for his waist, Coulson fired one shot. The wounded man ran through a gate and another yard before collapsing on Orange Avenue.
Coulson said the man threw something during the chase. A knife was later recovered nearby, police said.
–D.F.B.
Ramona woman admits guilt in 3 of 5 DUI charges
EAST COUNTY COURTS: A Ramona woman arrested five times since May on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs has pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges of drugged driving.
Tiffany Anne Adamo, 26, still faces one felony charge of driving under the influence of drugs, and a second charge will be filed soon, Deputy District Attorney Victor Barr said yesterday.
Barr said Adamo also could face prescription fraud charges pending the outcome of an investigation into how she received multiple prescriptions for painkillers and a muscle relaxant.
Adamo is being held in jail in lieu of $1 million bail pending a Dec. 6 court hearing.
She pleaded guilty in El Cajon Superior Court yesterday to driving under the influence of drugs June 28 and Sept. 27, Barr said. He said she pleaded guilty Nov. 9 in San Diego Superior Court to driving under the influence May 25.
Adamo faces a felony DUI charge in an Oct. 13 incident in which she allegedly pinned a 7-year-old boy against his mother's car in a parking lot then tried to drive away.
Barr said he will file a second felony charge in Adamo's Oct. 10 DUI arrest. By law, someone can be charged with a felony when three previous misdemeanor convictions for DUI have accrued within 10 years, Barr said.
–R.H.
Staff writers Pauline Repard, Karen Kucher, Debbi Farr Baker and Ray Huard contributed to this report.
