Thieves Take Catering Truck to Go

Two men escaped with more than $1,500 Monday after commandeering a catering truck from which they had just ordered tacos and soft drinks, police said.

“I don’t recall this happening before,” said Irvine Police Lt. Tom Humes. He gave this account of the incident, which happened about 11 a.m.:

The two men ordered food from the truck as it was leaving a construction site at Carlson and Broadway in Irvine. While two female employees prepared the order, one of the men produced a blue steel semiautomatic handgun and forced his way on board.

The two then drove the truck about half a mile to Campus Drive east of Carlson, where they pulled over and robbed the caterers of money, purses and other personal items, investigators said. The two men were still at large late Monday.