Police: Robber may have used knife to steal student’s backpack

Police are looking for a man who threatened a freshman who was on his way to the first day of classes at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa on Tuesday morning.

The robber, described as an adult male, grabbed the student, who was walking along a bike trail near the 700 block of Joann Street around 8 a.m., and held something against his throat. Although the student didn’t see what was pressed against his neck, he believed it was a knife, police said.

The assailant targeted the boy to steal his backpack, which was filled with $40 in school supplies, police said.

The boy dropped his backpack a

t the robber’s instruction and then ran, police said.

When he arrived at his school about two block away, the student told an administrator what had happened, said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Zack Hoferitza.

Hoferitza said the boy described the robber as Latino, 6-feet 3-inches tall and about 185 pounds. The sergeant added that the man was dressed in baggy blue jeans and a black, hooded sweat shirt.

The student told police he looked back as he ran and saw the attacker walking with the backpack along the bike path toward Harbor Boulevard.

Officers swept the area but couldn’t find anyone matching that description, Hoferitza said.

— Jeremiah Dobruck

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck