Santa Rosa police release surveillance images of would-be robber

Santa Rosa police released surveillance images Friday showing the suspect who they believe is responsible for both an attempted robbery of an ice cream parlor and a successful armed robbery of a Windsor tanning salon earlier this week.

One of the images shows a white man in a dark blue shirt with a white baseball cap holding a gun that appears to be pointed at an employee of the Baskin-Robbins on Yulupa Avenue in Santa Rosa. The other images show the man, who also was described as wearing blue shorts, entering and exiting the store with a backpack.

In the attempted ice cream parlor robbery Wednesday, which was reported about 11:33 a.m., the man is seen entering the store and ordered an ice cream. With a cone in one hand and a pistol in the other, he then demanded money from the cash register, police said. He then reached for the open drawer, but a store employee closed the register on his hand and the man left the store on foot, police said.

Officers searched the area but weren’t able to locate the man, who did not get any money from the attempted robbery and left the ice cream cone behind, too, police said.

Authorities believe the same man also was involved in the armed robbery of the Tropical Tan later that day. About 12:15 p.m., a man walked into the Brooks Road store, brandished a gun, demanded cash and left with an undetermined amount, police said.

The Windsor robbery suspect was described as a white man in his 30s or 40s wearing a green baseball hat, black sunglasses, a green hooded sweatshirt, knee-length shorts and tennis shoes.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Santa Rosa police at 707-543-3590.

You can reach Staff Writer J.D. Morris at 707-521-5337 or jd.morris@pressdemocrat.com.