Shell gas station in Carmel Valley site of attempted robbery

San Diego police are searching for a would-be robber who they said pulled a gun on a gas station employee Saturday night, Dec. 28, in an attempted robbery in Carmel Valley.

Police said the thwarted robber — who may have been a teenager or young adult — jumped behind a counter at the Shell gas station on Valley Centre Drive near El Camino Real around 11:30 p.m. and tried to take items from a wall display.

A female Shell employee, police said, noticed the person behind the counter and confronted him. He pulled the gun on the clerk, didn’t say anything and then ran off.

The would-be robber was last seen running west out of the parking lot and it was unclear if he stole anything. Police said he was described as 15 to 20 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall and 120 pounds. He was wearing black plants, black tennis shoes, a blue and green shirt, and another shirt wrapped around his face.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police at (619) 531-2299 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at (888) 580-8477.

—Phillip Molnar is a reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune