Police are looking for two men suspected of robbing a store in the Paseo Nuevo mall in downtown Santa Barbara on Thursday evening.
The Santa Barbara Police Department responded to 805 University, a retail store, for a report of a robbery just before 6 p.m., according to Cmdr. Nathan Beltran.
The store sells vintage tees, streetwear, headwear and footwear, per the Paseo Nuevo website.
Beltran said two suspects, described as Hispanic male adults in their early 20s, “entered the business and attempted to steal merchandise.”
A store employee “attempted to intervene” and “one of the suspects pushed the employee and punched him in the face,” Beltran said.
“Officers conducted extensive searches of the surrounding area but were unable to locate the suspects,” he added.
The two were not in police custody as of 9 p.m.
Emergency radio traffic indicated that at least one suspect may have had a face tattoo, but that could not be immediately confirmed.
Beltran said this “appears to be an isolated incident,” and the investigation was ongoing.
Emergency medical crews also responded to the scene.
Additional information was not immediately available.


