By Linda Taaffe

Los Altos

Two gunmen burst into a Los Altos nail salon last week and forced employees and a customer into a bathroom at the back of the shop while they ransacked the store. The men escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash, Los Altos Police Sgt. Tom Connelly said.

Helen Tran, owner of Professional Nail Care at 261 Plaza North, said she had the salon’s front door propped open June 12, enjoying the evening’s warm weather. An employee and she were giving a client a manicure and pedicure when two men wearing sunglasses ran in the door and closed the blinds at around 8:55 p.m.

“I saw them come in … and knew it was not right,” she said.

They quickly turned toward the three women, pulled out handguns and told them to get down and close their eyes, Tran said.

One of the men pushed Tran’s head forward and shoved her into the bathroom with the other two women. The men then tied the door shut, Tran said. The three women remained trapped in the tiny bathroom for about 7 minutes before the men fled, Tran said.

Tran said she believes her client’s ringing cell phone scared the men away. Her client’s boyfriend became concerned when no one answered the phone, so he kept calling and letting the phone ring, Tran said.

Tran pushed her hand through a gap in the door, managed to untie the cord and called police. The men took some of Tran’s cash and her client’s purse, which contained more than $1,000 that she had withdrawn in preparation for an overseas vacation before going to the salon.

“I feel I am lucky. I am alive,” Tran said as she shivered, thinking of the previous night’s events. “I want people to be careful.”

Tran said this was the first time she had been robbed since she began working in Los Altos in 1991.

Police distributed fliers about the incident to local merchants last week. Connelly said police had no suspects.