WALNUT CREEK (AP) -- Police are seeking three suspects who started their Thanksgiving by bashing a diner employee in the face and stealing $600 from the restaurant.

Walnut Creek police say the male robbers assaulted the employee around 1 a.m. Thursday as he walked out the back door of the Black
Bear Diner in this suburb east of San Francisco.

One suspect was armed with a 12-inch knife and another with a small baseball bat.

After the attack, they forced another employee to open a cash register and then a safe. The diner was closed at the time.

The suspects were all dressed in black and fled on foot.

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