Robbery detectives were investigating two armed robberies Tuesday morning, one at a Bay Park gas station and another at a Mission Valley hotel.

The first robbery was reported around 2:40 a.m. at the Shell gas station on the corner of Clairemont Drive and Denver Street, San Diego Police Officer John Buttle said.

A gas station employee had just returned from taking out the trash when he turned to lock the front doors, but two men walked up and pulled open the doors before he could lock them, Buttle said.

Both men had handguns and demanded money from the employee, the officer said. When the employee told them he didn’t have any money, one of the men pistol whipped him in the head.

The pair then fled the store and were last seen heading northbound on Denver Street.

Both suspects were described as Black men in their 40s. They were both wearing dark clothing, masks and baseball hats.

Shortly before 3:05 a.m. a robbery was reported at a hotel on Hotel Circle Place, off Hotel Circle North west of Fashion Valley Road, Buttle said.

Two armed men entered a hotel lobby, then left with a cash register, he said.

The suspects from that robbery were described as two Black men wearing masks and dark hoodies.

— City News Service

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