Man carjacked at gunpoint near his apartment's alley

Two men, at least one armed with a gun, carjacked a Costa Mesa resident Friday afternoon in the alley behind his apartment, Lt. Bob Ciszek said Saturday.

The incident occurred about 4:20 p.m. in the 1000 block of Mission Drive. Ciszek said the victim, a 41-year-old man, had pulled into the alley and was smoking a cigarette with his car still running when a man opened the driver’s side door and forced him out.

The suspect, described as a man in his 20s with a white T-shirt and jeans, threw the victim against a garage door, drew a handgun and ordered him not to move.

He drove off in the 2005 gray Nissan Quest Minivan along with a second man, also described as being in his early 20s.

Ciszek said the car was last seen turning eastbound out of the alley.

Even though the victim reported the carjacking within an hour, police had not yet issued a press release by Saturday evening.

Ciszek could not say why information on the robbery had not been made readily available.

“We usually do a press release pretty quickly,” he said.

— Michael Miller