ROBBERY SUSPECTS SOUGHT HOLDUP NETS POCKET CHANGE.

Byline: Greg Botonis Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Three robbers were being hunted after holding up a Palmdale payday advance business Tuesday at gunpoint.

Two men waving handguns ordered employees into a back room to open a safe at Advance America while a third man waited in the getaway car outside, deputies said.

``Apparently, (the employees) couldn't get the safe open fast enough so these guys split with only about $50,'' said Deputy Dave Jennings of the Palmdale sheriff's station. ``Those places don't keep much money on hand anyway.''

Because the company issues checks on payday loans, there is typically never a large amount of money on the premises, officials said.

The holdup occurred about 10:40 a.m. Tuesday in the office in the 4600 block of East Avenue S.

The robbers fled out of the parking lot in a Nissan Sentra, which they abandoned less than a mile away at Golden View Way and Fort Tejon Road, where a second car was waiting.

The second car was a teal Nissan Sentra that may have had two women waiting in it, deputies said.

Investigators impounded the first car to check for fingerprints.

The robbers who entered the store were described as African-American men in their 20s, both about 6 feet tall and about 190 pounds. The driver of the first getaway car was only described as an African-American man.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Palmdale sheriff's station at [phone].