Police are looking for Circle K robbers...

Police are looking for Circle K robbers

Costa Mesa police are seeking the public’s help in finding two men

suspected of robbing a convenience store at gunpoint Wednesday

morning.

Two men entered the Circle K in the 2300 block of Newport

Boulevard just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, police said. They waited in

the back of the store for customers to leave and then approached to

the clerk, Sgt. Jack Archer said.

They pointed an older-model rifle at the clerk and demanded money

from the register, Archer said. The clerk complied, and the pair made

off with an undisclosed amount of cash, police said.

The robbery was captured on surveillance video.

Police are seeking a Latino man, age 25 to 30, 5 feet 8, with

tattoos from the knees down. He was wearing a gray jacket and jean

shorts.

The second suspect is described as a white man in his late 20s,

also 5 feet 8, with a mustache and tattoos on both his arms. He was

wearing a green and white striped shirt.

The suspects are believed to have fled in a gray and black, 1990s

SUV. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Bob Fate at (714)

754-5313 or Costa Mesa police communications at (714) 754-5252.

Costa Mesa man will

face federal charges

A Costa Mesa man was among 10 people arrested Wednesday in

connection with an alleged scheme to steal tax refund checks.

A federal indictment alleges that 20 people conspired to steal and

cash $18 million in United States Treasury checks. Robert Lobo, 36,

is being held on $20,000 bond on suspicion of conspiracy against the

United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering, Assistant

U.S. Atty. Don Gaffney said.

Lobo is identified in the indictment as a “walker,” one who cashes

checks using false identification. If convicted of both counts, he

faces up to 25 years in jail and $750,000 in fines, Gaffney said.

The alleged scheme included a postal employee who stole the checks

from a post office and passed them on for cashing at banks and check

cashing stores.

-- Marisa O’Neil