The McDonalds on Olive Avenue is where Merced Police say an armed man stood in line behind several customers before running around the counter and robbing the cashier at gunpoint. It happened just after six on Monday night -- a time when Teri Ortiz says she and her daughter could have easily been inside...
"It was too close to home. Way too close to home. And we frequent this establishment a lot and so we're oh wow. It just means we have to watch a little more, you know."
Just hours after the McDonalds robbery, an armed suspect walked up to the counter at a Jack in the Box on V Street and demanded money.
"He became impatient, grabbed the cash register, and fled the restaurant with the cash register in hand," said Lt. Bimley West with the Merced Police Department.
Officers arrested a man who ran from them near that restaurant. He's now being called a person of interest.
But the arrest didn't stop someone else from robbing the Jack in the Box on Olive Avenue Tuesday evening. The suspect got away with $70.
"It is scary, it is scary, especially when they come in when there's people there," said customer Thelma Wybanga.
Police said in each of the cases, the employees did the right thing by handing over the cash instead of resisting. Now detectives are trying to determine if the robberies are related.
"The investigators are looking at surveillance video. The suspects are using disguises, but our investigators are good at what they do, and hopefully these suspects will be apprehended soon," said Lt. West.
