Contra Costa County Fair employees robbed at gunpoint of $88K

ANTIOCH, Calif. - Two Contra Costa County Fair employees were robbed at gunpoint of $88,000 in cash while trying to making a bank deposit.

According to Antioch police, the armed robbery occurred at 2:15 a.m. Monday in the parking lot of BMO Bank on Somersville Road.

Authorities said that the Contra Costa County Fair had ended Sunday night, and the two employees were responsible for making a nighttime deposit.

While depositing the cash at the BMO bank, the two workers, a man and a woman, were approached by a man who placed a metal object that may have a gun against the male victim's back, police said. The assailant threatened to kill them if they didn't comply and robbed the man of $88,000 in a backpack and their cell phones, said Antioch police Lt. Desmond Bittner.

Craig Cannon, president of the Contra Costa County Fair Board, said that the money was from parking and entrance fees.

And he said the fair might feel the effects of this robbery next year.

"They're taking away money from people that will probably see it come back in some way or another," he said on Wednesday. "Now it won't come back. So, basically, the fairgoers and the families are the ones that are going to possibly suffer at next year's fair."

Police have not provided a description of the suspect, who remains at large.