Richmond Police Department investigate the scene where a person was shot and fatally wounded by a Richmond police officer during the service of a search warrant in the 1200 Sanderling Island in Richmond, Calif., on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
WALNUT CREEK — Police are investigating two daytime robberies in downtown Walnut Creek Friday that left victims with minor injuries after they were held up by masked suspects who threatened them with guns and made off with their wallets and jewelry.
While the robberies occurred within two hours of each other Friday afternoon, Walnut Creek police do not believe at this time they are related, according to a news release.
Police received a call about the first robbery in the Newell Promenade shopping center, across Newell Avenue from Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, at about 1:11 p.m. The victim was getting into an Uber rideshare when confronted by two men wearing masks, with one brandishing a dark-colored handgun, police said. During a brief struggle, the robbers stole the victim’s watch and fled and left the victim with a facial injury.
At about 3:16 p.m., Walnut Creek police received a 911 call about another robbery that occurred in the Burger King parking lot on North Broadway, the release said. The victim was seated in his car when two suspects wearing masks and gloves confronted him. One of the robbers was holding a dark-colored handgun, police said. The robbers took the victim’s wallet and jewelry and left him with minor injuries.
These robberies follow a spate of other crimes that have occurred in and around Walnut Creek’s downtown in the past month.
Early in the morning on Oct. 3, a group of would-be burglars crashed through the Louis Vuitton store in Broadway Plaza with another luxury item — a Land Rover, police said. A responding officer arrived at the luxury goods store and reported seeing about 15 people split between four vehicles, “attempting to burglarize the store,” police said.
But the sight of the patrol car apparently sent the group scattering, police said. Other officers began chasing one of the fleeing vehicles onto westbound Highway 24 before ending the pursuit as it approached Orinda and the Caldecott Tunnel, citing safety concerns.
On Oct. 18, police arrested four people from Oakland, Fairfield, Sacramento and Reno on suspicion of retail theft at the Lululemon store in Broadway Plaza after they allegedly traveled there to return items stolen from the Lululemon stores in Santa Rosa and Napa. During the investigation, more than $10,000 worth of stolen merchandise was recovered from the suspects’ vehicles.
Later that day, at about 9:30 p.m., two people were held up by two young men, one who was armed with a handgun, while walking near the intersection of Botelho Drive and Locust Street, police said. The suspects, in their late teens or early 20s, wore hooded sweatshirts and masks and escaped in a waiting white sedan.
Police also responded to an armed robbery on Oct. 21 that occurred north of downtown, in the Walden shopping center, on North Main Street. A victim was selling property and arranged to meet the buyer at the shopping center, police said. But the victim was confronted by the buyer, who brandished a gun, took the property without paying for it and fled in a maroon sedan.
Anyone with information about these incidents is asked to contact the Walnut Creek Police Department at 925-943-5844 or the department’s anonymous tip line at 925-943-5865.
Originally published at Martha Ross