Men Dressed as Chefs Rob Puck’s Office

Two men dressed as chefs cooked up trouble Sunday when they robbed the Santa Monica business office of celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. But they fled--abandoning their chef’s costumes and the stolen money--after their getaway car was pulled over by an alert police officer.

The robbers, wearing kitchen whites, entered the office about 10 a.m. and forced employees to lie on the floor while they scooped up an unknown amount in cash, Sgt. John Hudson said.

Puck was not in the office at the time.

Not long after, Police Sgt. Larry Horn spotted their car and ordered it over to the side of the Santa Monica Freeway. When Horn demanded that the car’s driver remove the key from ignition, the driver tried to run him over, Hudson said.

Horn then fired a shot into the car, and the men fled on foot. Hudson said it was not known whether the gunshot hit either of the two men, who had not been caught.