San Luis Obispo Police look for armed robbery suspect

San Luis Obispo Police are looking for a man who used a gun to rob a popular ice cream shop in downtown, the latest in a string of armed robberies in the city and in San Luis Obispo County.

A busy Farmers Market Thursday night in downtown San Luis Obispo with Higuera Street packed with local merchants cashing in on the hungry crowds.

But the lights are turned off and a hand-written closed sign is on the front door at Batch, a popular shop on Broad Street near Higuera known for its ice cream sandwiches.

San Luis Obispo Police say at about 6:25 pm Wednesday night, a man walked into Batch, pointed a gun at an employee and demanded money.

The employee was not physically hurt during the brief encounter and the suspect ran off with an undisclosed amount of cash.

“I was shocked”, said Linda Braas who works in a women’s clothing store right across the street form Batch, “its a cookie store with ice cream, so you’re kind of going, okay, they don’t have a lot of cash there because its not big-ticket items, and its usually one employee that works there which is kind of scary.”

Other merchants downtown expressed sympathy for Batch’s owner.

“He’s a great guy, he’s been here a long time”, said local jewelry store owner Mike Ruffner who had a booth at the Farmers Market, “it doesn’t just affect the owner but its the people who work there, its kind of traumatizing for everybody so its unfortunate.”

Batch was closed Thursday but is expected to re-open for business on Friday, November 11.

“I hope they find out who did it”, Linda Braas said, “its scary, you know, you don’t want to be here by yourself.”

The suspect is described as a white male, between 30-40 years old, just over six feet tall, clean shaven with short plack hair.

Police say he was wearing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt, light colored pants and a black baseball cap with a white circular logo and did not try to conceal his face during the holdup.

Anyone with information about this crime is urged to call the San Luis Obispo Police Department at 805-781-7312 or Crime Stoppers at 805-549-STOP.