Toy Gun, Real Crime

For the past three weeks, a lone male has been robbing stores in the Mira Mesa area. He strikes late at night, when there are no customers. He enters quickly, shows a knife, and demands the clerk open the cash register. Upon getting the money, he quickly leaves.

This past Friday, May 15, it is believed that the same individual robbed an Auto Zone store, the AM /PM in Scripps Ranch, and the AM/PM in Mira Mesa. The robberies occurred between 9 and 11 p.m. The thief showed a gun to clerks in each store. The police believe the gun was a toy pistol but are still considering the individual armed and dangerous.

State law mandates that whether the gun is real or a toy, if the clerk believed it was real, the punishment is the same — a mandatory 20 years in prison.