Police Tuesday released images of four suspects sought for an apparent attempted armed robbery at an Irvine shopping center last weekend.
Police were called about 4 p.m. Sunday to the center at Harvard and Main. According to witness statements and video footage taken by a bystander, a white Mercedes-Benz sedan drove past the unnamed victim as he walked through the parking lot, then stopped, and two male suspects got out of the car.
Simultaneously, a gray Nissan Sentra stopped nearby and two additional suspects emerged, one holding a handgun in his right hand as he ran toward the victim, who dashed into a restaurant and shut the door as the four suspects gathered around a white Range Rover and spoke with someone inside the SUV, police said.
The armed suspect tapped on the window of the Range Rover with the barrel of the handgun before all four suspects ran back to their vehicles and drove off, police said.
Investigators do not know why the victim was targeted, but said it appears the suspect trailed him from Los Angeles. He was passing through Irvine on his way elsewhere, police said.
All of the suspects were wearing hooded sweatshirts and athletic shoes.
The Mercedes was an A220 four-door sedan with tinted windows and a sunroof, and the Sentra had tinted windows and a black rear bumper with damage to the left rear quarter panel.
An edited version of video footage of the suspects can be viewed at https://youtu.be/SF-31Xajl8I .
Anyone who has information helpful to investigators was asked to call Detective Haldor Larum at 949-724-7194 or send an email to hlarum@cityofirvine.org.