11:54am | Three robberies and a burglary took place within the span of five hours Wednesday night, keeping Long Beach police on their toes, authorities said.
It was not immediately clear if any of the incidents were related, said Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman Lisa Massacani.
As of Thursday, police had taken one suspect into custody, and on Friday detectives were still busily probing the string of incidents, she said.
The first incident took place at about 8:55 p.m. Wednesday at a liquor store in the historic California Heights neighborhood near North Lewis Aveneue and Wardlow Road, Massacani said.
A store employee said the suspect walked out of the store with several items without paying for them. The store clerk exited the business to confront the suspect, who grew angry and aggressive toward the employee, she said.
When the employee walked out of the shop and tried to stop the suspect, the man grew angry and aggressive before fleeing the scene on foot, Massacani said.
As the suspect ran away, the employee was able to flag down an LBPD patrol unit that happened to be passing by. Officers were able to nab the suspect and arrest him, Massacani said.
The suspect has been identified only as a 29-year-old Los Alamitos man.His name was not immediately available Thursday, Massacani said.
A 7-Eleven in downtown Long Beach was the target of the second incident. Police responded to a call for service from the convenience store on the corner of Fourth Street and Atlantic Avenue at about 10:03 p.m. Wednesday, she said.
A suspect entered the store and threatened a store clerk with a bladed weapon. The store clerk and the suspect began arguing, and the suspect, who was described as a white or Latino male wearing a hooded sweatshirt or jacket, eventually left the store without taking anything, massacani said.
Police were still searching for the suspect as of Thursday, she said.
A Naples office building was burglarized at about 12:30 a.m. Thursday morning by one or more suspects who broke into the location in the 5800 block of Naples Plaza and stole electronic equipment, Massacani said.
Police do not have any suspect information regarding that incident, she said.
The final incident was an armed robbery that occurred at about 2:30 a.m. in the 4200 block of Long Beach Boulevard, the spokeswoman said.
A lone gunman ran away with an unknown amount of cash, she said.
Anyone with information regarding these four incidents is urged to call the LBPD Robbery Detail at 562-570-7464.