IRVINE, Calif. (April 27, 2021) – The Irvine Police Department (IPD) is seeking the public’s help in identifying four male suspects involved in an attempted armed robbery that occurred Sunday afternoon at a shopping center.
On Sunday, April 25, just before 4:00 p.m., IPD responded to the shopping center at Harvard and Main regarding an attempted robbery. According to statements and video footage, a white Mercedes sedan drove past the victim as he walked through the parking lot. The Mercedes stopped in the middle of the parking lot and two males exited the vehicle. Simultaneously, a gray Nissan Sentra stopped nearby and two additional males exited, one holding a handgun in his right hand as he ran towards the victim.
Upon seeing the suspect with the handgun, the victim ran toward a nearby restaurant with the suspect chasing behind him. The victim reached the restaurant and closed the restaurant door. The armed suspect did not enter the restaurant, but joined the other three suspects who gathered near a parked white Range Rover. As the victim sheltered himself inside the restaurant, the suspects approached the passenger side of the Range Rover and appeared to be talking to someone inside. The armed male suspect tapped on the window with the barrel of the handgun and all four suspects ran to the Mercedes and drove out of the parking lot. The Nissan Sentra also drove out of the parking lot onto Coronado.
- Suspect #1 is described as a male black wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants, and black athletic shoes.
- Suspect #2 is described as a male black wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black jeans, and black/white athletic shoes.
- Suspect #3 is described as a male black, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, black sweatpants with a red stripe down the side, and white high top athletic shoes.
- Suspect #4 is a male black wearing a red/white/blue hooded sweatshirt, blue shorts, white crew socks, and black athletic shoes. He was armed with a handgun.
- Suspect vehicle #1 is a white Mercedes A220 four-door sedan with tinted windows and a sunroof. Suspect #1 exited the front passenger side and suspect #3 exited the left rear passenger side.
- Suspect vehicle #2 is a gray Nissan Sentra with tinted windows, a black rear bumper with damage to the left rear quarter panel. Suspects #2 and #4 exited this vehicle as the driver rolled forward from the parking space.
The drivers of the suspect vehicles were not seen during the commission of the crime.
An uninvolved vehicle parked in the shopping center captured video of the crime. An edited version of the video can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/SF-31Xajl8I.
At this time it is unknown why the victim was targeted, but it appears that the suspects may have followed him into the City of Irvine from the Los Angeles area. The victim is not an Irvine resident and he was passing through Irvine on his way to another city. It is believed this was an isolated incident and there is no known danger to the community.
The investigation into this case is ongoing.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Haldor Larum at 949-724-7194 or email: hlarum@cityofirvine.org.
