Robbery

Police are searching for three men who they said stole cash from a hotel Monday night. The armed robbery took place around 10:08 p.m. at the Comfort Suites, 16301 Beach Blvd. Two of the suspects entered the hotel wearing ski masks — one was armed with a hand gun and another with a crowbar, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Mitch O'Brien said. Police said a hotel guest was threatened by the men, who demanded the hotel clerk give them cash. The robbers fled in a gray sedan driven by the third suspect, O'Brien said.

Two men were booked into the Huntington Beach jail Feb. 9 on suspicion of robbing Hashigo Sushi on Main Street a week ago. A description of a pick-up truck that fled the scene led police to a suspect wanted on suspicion of three separate robberies in Long Beach, according to Huntington Beach Police Lt. Mitch O'Brien. A witness of the Huntington Beach robbery said the robber was armed with a gun. Authorities suspect Anthony Lee Bearden, 26, and Tad Lauren Bennett, 27, both of Long Beach, were involved in the Huntington Beach robbery, O'Brien said.

A Huntington Beach woman pleaded not guilty Friday to trying to rob a man who backed out of a deal to pay her money for sex. Megan Miko Wachi, 22, and her boyfriend Michael Alexander Diaz, 21, of Fountain Valley, were charged with felony conspiracy to commit a robbery and attempted robbery, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Diaz has not been arraigned and no court date has been set, according to public records. He has a warrant out for his arrest until he is released from the hospital, according to the district attorney's office.

Police have identified two men suspected of robbing a credit union in Huntington Beach on Saturday. Philip Corry allegedly entered NuVision Federal Credit Union, 20100 Magnolia St., at 2 p.m. and demanded money, said Lt. Mitch O'Brien. He received an unknown amount of money and left the bank, where Christopher Thompson was allegedly waiting for him in a car. The two fled and were arrested in Fountain Valley shortly after the robbery, said Lt. Brian Seitz. No one was injured.

Officials are asking the public's help to identify two men accused of robbing a Huntington Beach man Saturday on the street. The two males are both described as Hispanic and in their 20s, according to the Huntington Beach Police Department's Facebook page . One of the men was around 5-foot-4 and 120 pounds and wearing a gray sweatshirt. The second man was about 5-foot-8 with a heavier build and wearing a green hooded sweatshirt. The men are accused of approaching a Huntington Beach man as he was walking home at about 7:50 p.m. Saturday near Beach Boulevard and Cypress Drive.

Police are seeking two men who allegedly robbed a Huntington Beach jewelry store using guns and ski masks, along with a woman who allegedly served as their getaway driver Wednesday afternoon. At 12:43 p.m., the men entered Isabella's Fine Jewelry at 16917 Algonquin St., Unit C and held employees at gunpoint while smashing display cases, according to a release from the Huntington Beach Police Department. Lt. Chad Nichols said store employees apparently answered the door for the woman, after which the men came inside.

A male transient who allegedly robbed a pie shop at gunpoint and drove a stolen car was in custody Monday, Huntington Beach Police said. Paul Huisinga, 39, was booked into the Huntington Beach jail on charges of armed robbery, hit-and-run and possession of a stolen vehicle after stealing $800 in cash from Polly Pies, at 9791 Adams Ave. at about 4 p.m., said Huntington Beach Police Lt. Bruce Kelly. Huisinga brandished a handgun demanding money and fled in a light colored Lincoln Continental with Michigan license plates that police eventually found to be a stolen car from Long Beach, Kelly said.

Police arrested a man just one hour after he allegedly walked out of a Huntington Beach bank this week with about $20,000 in cash. Authorities took Patrick Murphy, 53, into custody about 2 p.m. Monday. Murphy was described by authorities as a transient local to the Orange County area. Murphy entered the Comerica Bank at 17011 Beach Blvd. at 1:06 p.m. and verbally demanded money from a bank teller, authorities said. Police were notified two minutes later by a robbery alarm from the bank.

Charges have been dropped against a Huntington Beach man whom police arrested on suspicion of robbing a market in Cypress at gunpoint April 1. Aaron Burris, 24, was arrested April 10 after police received several anonymous tips about his possible involvement in the robbery of the J&B Market, Cypress Police Department Sgt. Tom Bruce said. He spent several days at a county jail before posting bail, authorities said. Burris and his fiancée were able to prove through cell phone photos, canceled tickets and surveillance tapes that Burris was at a Los Angeles Clippers basketball game at the time of the robbery, authorities said.

Police are searching for three men who they said stole cash from a hotel Monday night. The armed robbery took place around 10:08 p.m. at the Comfort Suites, 16301 Beach Blvd. Two of the suspects entered the hotel wearing ski masks — one was armed with a hand gun and another with a crowbar, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Mitch O'Brien said. Police said a hotel guest was threatened by the men, who demanded the hotel clerk give them cash. The robbers fled in a gray sedan driven by the third suspect, O'Brien said.

Huntington Beach police are asking for the public's help to locate a male suspect of a Huntington Beach bank robbery. The suspect is described as a 6-foot-2, heavy-set, 30-year-old black or Latino man wearing a dark Detroit Tigers baseball cap, a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans. The man entered the Bank of the West at Brookhurst Street and Garfield Avenue at around 9:47 a.m. Thursday. He is accused of walking up to a teller and handing her a note demanding money. The suspect allegedly threatened the teller not to activate the alarm or he would harm her. When the man was given the money, he asked for his note back and left the bank.

A 52-year-old transient was arrested Thursday on suspicion of robbing a Huntington Beach bank, police said. The Police Department received a call at 12:59 p.m. about a bank robbery that had just occurred at the Union Bank at 16141 Beach Blvd. A man entered the bank and demanded cash while threatening that he had a weapon, then made off with an undisclosed amount of money, according to a news release from the department. Officers arrested David Hill, who matched the description of the suspect, in a neighboring shopping center.

A Huntington Beach man was found guilty Monday of beating and causing the death of a World War II veteran during a robbery on Veterans Day in 2003. A jury found John Kirk McKinney, 30, guilty of the second-degree murder of Cecil Warren, 77, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. McKinney's co-defendant, Curtis James Hill, 29, also of Huntington Beach, was found guilty Nov. 1 of special-circumstances murder in the commission of a robbery, and he was sentenced to life in state prison without the possibility of parole.

Police have identified two men suspected of robbing a credit union in Huntington Beach on Saturday. Philip Corry allegedly entered NuVision Federal Credit Union, 20100 Magnolia St., at 2 p.m. and demanded money, said Lt. Mitch O'Brien. He received an unknown amount of money and left the bank, where Christopher Thompson was allegedly waiting for him in a car. The two fled and were arrested in Fountain Valley shortly after the robbery, said Lt. Brian Seitz. No one was injured.

Two men were booked into the Huntington Beach jail Feb. 9 on suspicion of robbing Hashigo Sushi on Main Street a week ago. A description of a pick-up truck that fled the scene led police to a suspect wanted on suspicion of three separate robberies in Long Beach, according to Huntington Beach Police Lt. Mitch O'Brien. A witness of the Huntington Beach robbery said the robber was armed with a gun. Authorities suspect Anthony Lee Bearden, 26, and Tad Lauren Bennett, 27, both of Long Beach, were involved in the Huntington Beach robbery, O'Brien said.

A Huntington Beach man pleaded not guilty Tuesday for allegedly strangling a 21-year-old woman to death and then leaving her body in his RV parked outside his parents' house. Police began searching for Ean Keith Brown, 38, on Sunday after his parents became suspicious and called the Huntington Beach Police Department to inspect the RV, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Brown was out on parole for burglary at the time he allegedly strangled the woman, whom police identified as Dolores "Arias" Fagan.

A Huntington Beach man was sentenced Friday to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of a World War II veteran during a Veterans Day robbery in 2003. Curtis James Hill, 29, Huntington Beach, was found guilty Nov. 1 of one felony count of special-circumstances murder in the commission of a robbery. Co-defendant John Kirk McKinney, 29, also a Huntington Beach resident, is charged with one felony count of special-circumstances murder in the commission of a robbery and faces a sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

Opening statements were scheduled to begin Wednesday in the trial of a Huntington Beach man accused of beating and causing the death of a World War II veteran during a robbery on Veterans Day in 2003, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Curtis James Hill, 29, is charged with one felony count of murder during a robbery and faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted. Hill and his co-defendant, John Kirk McKinney, also a Huntington Beach resident, allegedly entered 77-year-old Cecil Warren's parked van around 6 p.m. on Nov. 11, 2003, with the intention of stealing from it. Warren was working as a handyman, cleaning the parking lot of a bank in Huntington Beach, when he noticed Hill and McKinney in his van. The two allegedly attacked Warren, kicked him and hit him in the head, robbed him of his wallet, then left him on the ground and fled the scene, prosecutors said.