Dana Point : Woman Arrested in 2 Armed Robberies

A woman suspected of two holdups Thursday night was arrested just 14 minutes after the second theft.

Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Cherman was on patrol when he noticed a woman matching the description of a robbery suspect standing in front of a Coast Highway liquor store, said Sheriff’s Lt. Dick Olson.

As he approached the woman, she turned to walk away, but Cherman stopped her for questioning. When he looked inside her blue van, Cherman saw a blue jacket similar to that described by the two robbery victims.

The victims, clerks at a gas station and a bait store, were brought to the liquor store, Olson said, where they identified the woman.

Tania Lynn Carter, 29, was booked into County Jail on suspicion of armed robbery, Olson said. The Dana Point resident was held on $50,000 bail, and her arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday.

The first robbery, of a Mobil gas station on Del Obispo Street, took place at 10:45 p.m. Thursday; the second, at Phil’s Bait and Tackle on Coast Highway, at 11:10 p.m.

During both robberies, the robber wore a blue jacket, with the hood pulled over her head and tied tightly around her face. She had her right hand in the jacket pocket, as if holding a gun, and placed a bag and a written demand for money on the cashier’s counter.

The robber got less than $100 from the 29-year-old gas station attendant and an unknown amount of cash from the 71-year-old clerk at the fishing shop, Olson said.

Carter was arrested about a mile from the scene of the second robbery, Olson said.