VENTURA : Hotel Near Pier Robbed by Gunman

A hotel near the Ventura Pier was robbed early Thursday by a gunman who ordered the night auditor to put cash kept at the registration desk into a plastic bag, police said.

The auditor was alone at the front desk of the Country Inn at Ventura on South Chestnut Street when the robbery occurred a few minutes before 2 a.m., police said.

The suspect, according to a police statement, is about 5 feet, 11 inches tall and has short hair.

“He was seen by other people in the area running across the footbridge toward the pier,” the statement said. No one was injured.

Hotel manager Steve Troyer said the loss was small, but neither he nor police estimated the amount taken.

The gunman, police said, loitered in the hotel’s lobby briefly, then left and returned about 15 minutes later. Approaching the front desk, he placed a plastic bag on the counter, pointed a small pistol at the auditor and demanded money.

“The suspect then calmly walked out of the hotel,” the police statement said.