Robbery

A man accused of robbing a woman at gunpoint at her in-home daycare center in Irvine pleaded guilty Friday, according to a news release from the Orange County district attorney's office. Hung Trong Do, 33, of Stanton admitted to assault with a semi-automatic weapon, robbery, burglary, illegal possession of a firearm by a felon and other charges. He was charged with breaking into the woman's home through an open garage June 3, 2009, holding a gun to the back of her neck and demanding money.

COSTA MESA — Police on Wednesday continued to search for suspects related to a watch store robbery where thieves made off with 40 watches. One man who police believe may be connected to the crime was arrested for outstanding warrants Tuesday, but no one has been charged with the robbery, said Lt. Paul Dondero of the Costa Mesa Police Department. Two masked men robbed Watch Connection store at 3033 Bristol St. at 11:48 a.m. Tuesday before taking off in what witnesses described as a white Honda Accord, according to police.

COSTA MESA —Police arrested a Mission Viejo man on suspicion of armed robbery at a Costa Mesa gas station early Tuesday. Officers arrested Brandon Headstrand, 25, after responding to a 911 call about 1:41 a.m. from an Arco station in the 2600 block of Newport Avenue, Costa Mesa Lt. Rob Sharpnack said. When officers arrived, they were told that a man in the company of two women tried to steal a pair of sunglasses. As a store clerk tried to stop him, the suspect pulled out a knife, police were told.

COSTA MESA - Police continued the search Monday for two men they say robbed a cell phone store at gunpoint. The men covered their faces with hooded sweatshirts when they robbed a Verizon Wireless store at 2300 Harbor Blvd. 9 a.m. Saturday, police said in a news release. The two took an unknown amount of cash and phones. Police said the suspects are black, in their early 20s, between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighing between 150 and 170 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Ed Everett at (714)

A Stanton man convicted of his third strike for the armed robbery of an Irvine in-home daycare was sentenced Thursday to 22 years in state prison. Hung Trong Do, 34, pleaded guilty in May to robbing a woman at gunpoint while she was caring for six children, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Do pleaded guilty to felony first-degree robbery, first-degree residential burglary, possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

Newport Beach police arrested two suspects while a third remained at-large after a local man reported being attacked and robbed early Tuesday morning. A man with facial injuries called police about 2:50 a.m. to report that his wallet and money were stolen at 30th Street and West Balboa Boulevard. The victim told police that three suspects fled the scene in a brown sedan, Newport Beach Sgt. Steve Burdette said. Police identified a car that matched the description traveling north on Newport Boulevard and a pursuit ensued, Burdette said.

A drug store manager’s uncanny ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when crimes occur has finally caught up to her, Orange County Sheriff’s officials are saying. Authorities are claiming Cynthia Johanna Ongamsing-Jenkins, 43, wasn’t exactly the victim of a take-over robbery at a Costa Mesa Rite Aid in 2007, or of a stick-up last month in Dana Point where robbers made off with $20,000. No, said Sheriffs department spokesman Jim Amormino, she, in fact, helped plan them.

Three men were arrested in an exclusive Newport Beach community Tuesday night minutes after they and two others committed an armed home-invasion robbery there, police said. Police said that about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday, the 9-1-1 calls started coming in from people inside 3 Longboat, a home in the Pelican Ridge gated neighborhood in Newport Coast. The callers told authorities they had just been robbed at gunpoint and that the men were trying to get away. Police swarmed the area and found Mikael Andre Hastings, 36, of Los Angeles, injured in a nearby yard.

Police are crediting quick-thinking witnesses and a cooperative victim with nabbing a man they say tried to rob a woman Wednesday. Police arrested Douglas Rodney Nicholson, 39, on suspicion of attempted robbery Wednesday after they said he approached a woman at about 10:46 a.m. on Fairview Road between the 55 Freeway and Wilson Street and tried to steal her purse. The woman, 5-feet-tall, 120 pounds and in her early 20s, fought off the much bigger Nicholson’s attempts to snatch her purse and refused to hand over money when he demanded it, said Lt. Clay Epperson.

Jennifer Kho COSTA MESA -- Police arrested a 32-year-old man Wednesday who they say is the "Yellow Jacket Bandit" suspected in a string of robberies in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach. Police made the arrest after tracking down Michael Dunkovich's car and waiting for him to return to it. Dunkovich is suspected of robbing three Costa Mesa gas stations and one Huntington Beach liquor store since Saturday. "He always had a yellow denim jacket, which he either wore or draped over his arm while he carried a gun," said Costa Mesa Police Lt. John FitzPatrick.

The accused "Snowboarder Bandit" was charged Tuesday with 12 felonies related to a string of Orange County bank robbers, authorities said. Michael Brandon Franks, 29, of Riverside County is allegedly responsible for robbing 10 area banks, including branches in Newport Beach and Irvine, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. He has been charged with 10 felony counts of second degree robbery and two felony counts of attempted robbery. Prosecutors said in each case Franks wore clothing similar to what a snowboarder would wear, including a beanie, and slipped the bank teller a note saying he had a gun and demanded money.

Costa Mesa spent nearly $700,000 in legal fees through the end of January to defend itself from a lawsuit filed by its employees, invoices show. Total fees have reached $692,379, according to invoices obtained this week by a Daily Pilot public records request. That figure is $186,000 higher than the $505,399 reported on the city's website earlier this week. Such a disparity online was a mistake, however, as the total did not account for the months of July, August or January, according to city Assistant Finance Director Colleen O'Donoghue.

Police are continuing the search for an armed man who robbed a Baskin-Robbins in Costa Mesa on Tuesday evening. About 9:44 p.m., an employee of the ice cream store at 1927 Harbor Blvd. came out from the back to serve what he thought was a customer, but instead the man showed a gun in his waistband, according to the Costa Mesa Police Department. The man told the employee he wasn't afraid to use the gun and demanded cash, police said. He took the money from the register and fled the scene.

Four members of a Vietnamese street gang will be tried in court Thursday in connection with the 1995 cold case slaying of a fellow gang member in Costa Mesa, authorities said. Anthony Paul Johnson Jr., 35, of Westminster, Giang Thuy Nguyen, 36, of Fountain Valley, Tam Hung Nguyen, 36, of Riverside, and Truc Ngoc Tran, 34, of Santa Ana, each face one felony count of murder and one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder for the shooting death of fellow gang member Viet Nguyen, who left during a home invasion robbery of a classmate's home in Huntington Beach for fear that he would be identified, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of robbing a man they met on Craigslist at an Irvine park, police said. Xavier Austin Parnell, 24, of Canoga Park, and Matthew Erick Davis, 22, formerly of Irvine, allegedly met a Huntington Beach man trying to sell a laptop Sunday night, the Irvine Police Department said. During the transaction, Parnell allegedly reached inside his coat, seemingly for his wallet, but displayed a handgun and demanded the merchandise instead, running to a car police believe was being driven by Davis.

COSTA MESA - Police continued the search Monday for two men they say robbed a cell phone store at gunpoint. The men covered their faces with hooded sweatshirts when they robbed a Verizon Wireless store at 2300 Harbor Blvd. 9 a.m. Saturday, police said in a news release. The two took an unknown amount of cash and phones. Police said the suspects are black, in their early 20s, between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighing between 150 and 170 pounds. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Ed Everett at (714)

A Stanton man convicted of his third strike for the armed robbery of an Irvine in-home daycare was sentenced Thursday to 22 years in state prison. Hung Trong Do, 34, pleaded guilty in May to robbing a woman at gunpoint while she was caring for six children, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. Do pleaded guilty to felony first-degree robbery, first-degree residential burglary, possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

A Laguna Niguel man, dubbed the "Blue Note Bandit" for a string of robberies in Costa Mesa and other Orange County cities, was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison and will have to pay $26,000 in restitution, according to prosecutors. David Andrew Camp, 52, robbed 13 banks in about two and a half months, and was known for handing tellers a note demanding large bills and no dye packs, according to the Orange County district attorney's office. According to the D.A.'s office, he robbed banks in Costa Mesa, Irvine, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest and San Juan Capistrano.

COSTA MESA - Two men who may have been involved in a Tuesday morning heist at a Costa Mesa watch store were arrested in Huntington Beach, officials said. About 11:48 a.m., Costa Mesa police responded to a robbery alarm at the Watch Connection, 3033 Bristol St., where two suspects wearing ski masks had reportedly made off with 40 to 50 high-priced watches. Police said the suspects entered the store after smashing their way through the locked front door made of glass. They also smashed the glass display cases inside the store to get the items, according to a release issued late Tuesday by Costa Mesa police.