Mexican restaurant owner robbed at gunpoint
A restaurant owner was robbed at gunpoint Sunday evening when a pair of men rushed into his business at closing time.
The victim, Manuel Ochoa of La Mexicana Restaurant, located on New Smithville Highway across from Shell, said he was closing his store around 9:20 p.m. and had just opened his door to leave when he was accosted by a pair of Hispanic men.
Ochoa said the men pushed their way in and forced him to the ground, turning him on his stomach and pushing a gun in his back.
“They told him they’d shoot him if he didn’t cooperate,” said McMinnville Police Captain Bryan Denton. “They took his money bag containing the store’s cash and fled on foot.”
The amount of cash has not been revealed but is believed to be a very large sum.
Ochoa, who was basically uninjured, said the men both spoke Spanish and stood about 5-foot-7 and weighed around 160 pounds. Otherwise, Ochoa could not recall much about the attack.
“Everything happened too fast,” Ochoa told police when they arrived answering his 911 call.
The incident marks the second robbery at the store. A few years ago, a pair of robbers hit at closing time, taking the day’s receipts in a similar incident. They were never caught.