Go On, Take the Money and Run – And Get Arrested

COSTA MESA (May 12, 2009) – A need for cash and booze seemed to fuel the motivation for a robbery suspect that went on a short rampage before police caught up to him.

Kenneth Wayne Bennett, 46, of Rancho Cucamonga, was arrested Monday afternoon after police responded to reports of a man running out of the Newport Rib Company restaurant at 2196 Harbor Boulevard, carrying a cash register and a bottle of liquor.

Officers searching the area saw Bennett exiting the back of a nearby Albertsons grocery store, realized he matched the description of the suspect and attempted to stop him.

A short chase ensued before Bennett was captured and as police took Bennett into custody they received a call reporting a bank robbery at a Downey Savings located inside the same Albertsons that Bennett had just departed.

Witnesses pegged Bennett as the suspect in both robberies and cash he possessed, along with the liquor from the Newport Rib Company, further implicated Bennett. The stolen cash register from the Newport Rib Company was later located behind a nearby business.

Bennett was booked into the Costa Mesa PD Jail with bail set at $100,000 dollars.