OXNARD : Dairy Store Clerk Foils Armed Robbery

A clerk at an Oxnard dairy store foiled an attempted robbery Thursday when he challenged and then chased the robber, believing that the gun the man pointed at him was not real, police said.

James Kenneth Myers, 28, entered the store on Channel Islands Boulevard shortly before 6 p.m. and initially told clerk Reynald Andico that he wanted to buy an ice cream cone, police said.

“He pulled a gun on me and told me to stand back,” Andico said. “I told him how to open the drawer, but when he was taking the money, I looked at the gun and I realized it was fake. I said, ‘Hey, that’s fake!’ and he ran out of the store.”

Andico said he ran after Myers screaming “Hey, that’s a fake gun!” and “Turn around and fight me!”

Police said officers spotted the two men running down Ventura Road and intervened, arresting Myers without a struggle.

Police later said the weapon used in the incident was a BB gun. Andico said Myers had taken $20 from the register before he was stopped. Myers was being held late Thursday on suspicion of armed robbery, authorities said.

Police said they were investigating a possible link with several other armed robberies that have occurred in the vicinity.