Beach Bum employee threatened at gunpoint

Police are searching for a man who robbed Beach Bum Tanning in Oceanside on Tuesday, May 11, after he threatened an employee at gunpoint and stole cash from the salon.

The incident occurred at 10:10 a.m., when police said a man entered the tanning salon, located at 2801 Long Beach Road. He was armed with a handgun and forced a female employee to the floor. He then made off with an undisclosed amount of cash, heading south on foot on Long Beach Road.

The salon's employee was not injured and police said that there were no customers inside at the time of the robbery.

"This was absolutely a surprise, a robbery that was off the beaten path" said Det. Sgt. Ronald Nesbith of the Fourth Squad, adding that it is not often a tanning salon is robbed. "This is also one of the cleanest precincts, and there are not many robberies in the fourth."

Beach Bum opens at 8 a.m., according to its website, and the incident happened very quickly, Nesbith said.

He described the robbery as a random act, saying that it is not part of any series of crimes. Beach Bum salons in other areas, he said, have not been targeted and this was the first incident at the Oceanside location. There is also no indication, he said, that the robbery was an inside job or the work of someone who was familiar with the salon.

"We're investigating and narrowing it down as the case progresses," Nesbith said. "We're examining every possibiltity at this point."

The man is described as a white male in his 20s, 5 feet 6 inches tall, with an average build. He was wearing a gray, hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants.

A manager at Beach Bum was not immediately available for comment.

Detectives request anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.

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