Man robs inn with hand in his pocket

Costa Mesa police are looking for a man who they said pretended to have a gun while robbing a Costa Mesa inn and attempted to hold up another in less than 30 minutes Thursday night.

The robber, whom police describe as Latino between 5-foot-4 and 5-foot-8, in his 20s, wearing a black hooded sweat shirt and dark pants, and weighing about 140 pounds, walked into the Ana Mesa Inn on Harbor and MacArthur boulevards at 9:45 p.m. with his hand in his pocket as if it were a gun and demanded money, Sgt. Zack Hoferitza said.

The clerk handed over the money and the robber left, apparently heading south to the Vagabond Inn off Harbor Boulevard and Gisler Avenue. At about 10 p.m., the robber walked into the Vagabond and demanded money from the clerk with his hand in his pocket.

“He just came in and pretended he had a gun,” said the woman who was working at the front desk. She did not want to be identified.

She said she immediately knew the man did not have a real gun, so she did not give in to his demands. A hotel guest who had called the front desk just as the clerk was being robbed overheard the robber’s threats and called police, Hoferitza said.

The robber went behind the desk and unsuccessfully tried to open a safe under the counter, police said. He did not physically accost the clerk behind the counter, she said.

When he couldn’t open the safe, he ran out the side door toward TeWinkle Middle School, witnesses said.

“I saw the guy walk over and didn’t think anything was going on. Then, next thing I knew, he was running like crazy the other way,” said Lyle Tracy, who watched the police activity from his second-story balcony.

After the attempt, police searched TeWinkle and the nearby neighborhoods with flashlights in hand. The robber may have driven away in a dark sport utility vehicle parked on Iowa Street, just west of the Vagabond Inn. Police are reviewing security videos from both hotels, authorities said.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com. JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.