TEHACHAPI, Calif. -- Two men have been arrested in connection with an assualt and robbery at a liquor store, police said.

Around 5:50 p.m. Sunday, the Tehachapi Police Department responded to Tehachapi Liquor, located at 840 Tucker Rd, to reports of a robbery that had just occurred and reports that gun shots had been fired.

When they arrived, officers said they learned that Carlos E. Tarango Herrera, 18, and Martin Saldivar Reyes Jr., 21, both Kern County residents of the city of Bakersfield, had entered the store with a baseball bat, assaulted the 45-year-old store clerk, took money from the cash register and ran to a black Ford Mustang in the parking lot.

As the Mustang was leaving the parking lot, officers said the store clerk fired two shots from a 9mm handgun toward the vehicle.

Witnesses were able to provide police with a partial license number and description of the vehicle, which fled northbound on Tucker Road toward Highway 58, police said.

Around 6:30 p.m., officers from the California Highway Patrol said they located a similar vehicle on the shoulder of Highway 58 near General Beale Road, and said Herrera and Reyes appeared to be walking away from the vehicle.

CHP officers detained the men until arrival of TPD officials.

TPD officers were able to identify Herrera and Reyes as the robbery suspects based upon footage from the liquor store.

Officers recovered the baseball bat, bloody clothing, and the cash and merchandise that had been stolen during the robbery, police said.

Officers said they also recovered an expended 9mm bullet from inside the vehicle’s flat left rear tire.

The store clerk sustained moderate head injuries during the assault by the suspects. He was treated and released from Tehachapi Hospital. For his protection, the store clerk’s name is not being released at this time

Herrera and Reyes were both arrested on charges of robbery, felony assault and burglary.

Anyone with additional information about this crime is asked to contact TPD Detective Denise Brown at (661) 822-2222 ext 107.