BANK, 7-ELEVEN CUSTOMER ROBBED IN SEPARATE INCIDENTS GUNMEN ESCAPE IN BOTH PALMDALE HOLDUPS AN HOUR APART.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - A robber walked past picketing workers Wednesday to hold up a bank branch inside a supermarket, deputies said.

An hour later, two different robbers tried to hold up a 7-Eleven store, but were foiled when the clerk locked himself in a back office to call 911, deputies said. The 7-Eleven gunman then robbed a customer, punching him before fleeing in a stolen car driven by an accomplice, deputies said.

``The suspect was apparently angry that the victim only had two dollars on him and punched him in the face,'' Deputy Dave Miklos said of the 7-Eleven robbery.

The first robbery occurred about 10:15 a.m. at the Wells Fargo bank branch inside the Vons grocery store at 30th Street West and Avenue P.

Investigators said the robber entered the store calmly and walked right up to the bank counter as if he was a customer.

When the bank teller greeted the man, he handed her a note stating, ``This is a robbery'' and demanded she hand over all of the money from the teller drawers. The teller, fearing that the man may be armed, handed over the cash.

The man then walked calmly out of the store, officials said. He walked east toward 30th Street West before breaking into a run to a vehicle and sped off.

Officials said they did not get a description of the car because none of the people who saw him walk out of the store and toward the car thought anything was out of the ordinary.

The bank employees told investigators that the robber was an African- American man about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds with a medium build.

Investigators said no gun was seen during the robbery and no one was hurt.

Anyone with information on the robbery or on the identity of the robber is asked to call Detective Steve Lankford at the Palmdale sheriff's station at [phone].

The second robbery occurred just over an hour later when a clerk at the 7-Eleven at 30th Street East and Avenue R saw an older white Oldsmobile Cutlass pull up in front and the passenger get out holding a chrome handgun.

The clerk ran into a back office, locked the door and called 911, leaving the only customer in the store by himself.

The gunman pounded on the office door, ordering the clerk to open it. Rebuffed, he went to the cash register and tried for several seconds to open it by pressing keys and prying on the drawer, according to security videotape.

Unsuccessful, the gunman then approached the customer and demanded his money. The customer handed over $2, which he said was all he had with him. The gunman argued with the man and then punched him in the face.

At that point, the getaway driver started pounding on the window yelling to his friend that they had to go. The man ran outside and jumped in the car.

The car was later found abandoned, its engine running, near Avenue R-4 and 30th Street East. Investigators say the 1982 Cutlass had been stolen from a home on 3rd Street East in Palmdale on Thursday.

The gunman was described as a white man in his 20s, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing about 180 pounds. He was wearing a gray, long sleeve shirt with a hood and had a blue and purple bandanna.

The Cutlass driver was described as an African-American man in his 20s, also wearing a gray, long-sleeve shirt.

Anyone with information in the incident or the identity or whereabouts of the men are asked to call Detective Jim Murren at the Palmdale sheriff's station at [phone].

The 7-Eleven customer, described as a male Latino in his 30s, left before deputies arrived. Deputies asked him to come forward so they can get more information on the robbers.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Sheriff's patrol cars pull up in front of a Vons grocery store at 30th Street West and Avenue P on Wednesday after the robbery of a Wells Fargo branch inside. He escaped with an undetermined amount of cash.

(2) A sheriff's sergeant looks for footprints Wednesday in a field near Avenue R-4 and 30th Street East, where a getaway car used during a robbery of a 7-Eleven customer was found abandoned.

Paul Weatherman/Special to the Daily News