2 Market Robbers Elude SWAT Officers

SWAT officers looking for two robbers stormed an Oxnard house Tuesday but found it empty.

Police were looking for two men who robbed a Colonia Road liquor store about 9:30 a.m.

Authorities say the robbers, at least one of them armed with a semiautomatic handgun, entered Boy’s Market and demanded money. The pair grabbed a cell phone from a clerk and fled with $260 in cash.

A witness told officers that the robbers ran into a nearby home on North Roosevelt Avenue in the La Colonia area. Police found a discarded cell phone near the driveway of a residence under construction and called the department’s SWAT team.

Officers evacuated next-door neighbors and surrounded the house. By 2 p.m., with still no sign of the suspects, SWAT officers entered the house but found no one, police said.

Authorities describe one robber who was armed with a handgun as Latino, about 19 years old, 5 feet 8, 160 pounds, with a buzz haircut. He was wearing a white jacket, baggy jeans and white tennis shoes.

The second robber was described as Latino, about 17, 5 feet and 100 pounds.

He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, an oversized white T-shirt, baggy jeans and white tennis shoes.

Anyone with information on the suspects should contact the Oxnard Police Department at 339-4059.