Armed Hold-Ups at 7-Eleven, Mall

A convenience-store clerk and mall shoppers were held up at gunpoint over the weekend and Friday in two separate incidents, according to the Pleasanton Police Department.

Three suspects, one male and two females, entered the 7-Eleven store on 4300 Valley Avenue at 11 p.m. Friday night and demanded cash from the clerk, said Sgt. Kurt Schlehuber.

The male, who was wearing a black ski mask, black gloves and a black hooded sweatshirt, was carrying a gun, he said.

The female suspects wore hooded sweatshirts, as well, one in gray and one in black, with the hoods tied tightly around their faces, Schlehuber said.

The three fled on foot after taking cash and cartons of cigarettes, he said.

In the second robbery, five shoppers were en route to their car at Stoneridge Mall at noon on Sunday, he said.

The shoppers, a husband and wife, their two small children and the wife's brother, were getting into their car in the parking area near Sears and Macy's when a man appeared at the door of the car and stuck a gun to the husband's stomach, demanding cash, Schlehuber said.

The man turned over his cash, and the suspect then ripped a gold chain from his neck, he said.

The mall suspects then fled in a black 1990s-style Toyota Corolla, he said.

The family got the vehicle's license-plate number and then followed the robbers onto westbound I-580, he said.

At some point, the suspects realized they were being tailed by the victim and pointed the gun back at the family, who then backed off and waited for police, he said.

Anyone with information on either case is encouraged to call police at 925-931-5100.