CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Two men were in custody Thursday accused of trying to rob a CVS pharmacy in Carlsbad, police said.

Eric Gaskell, 21, and Peter Zastoke-Cleary, 30, allegedly tried to rob the CVS pharmacy at 2510 El Camino Real about 9 p.m. Wednesday, said Sgt. Gil Beason of the Carlsbad Police Department.

Officers responding to the incident arrived in time to see the men leave the parking lot in a 1992 Honda, according to Beason.

They allegedly saw that the passenger, Gaskell, matched the description of the robbery suspect. The vehicle was subsequently pulled over in the parking lot of Kragan Auto Parts on Plaza Drive in Oceanside.

Witnesses were brought to the parking lot and identified Gaskell as the man who had handed a demand note to a pharmacist while showing off a handgun in his waistband, Beason said.

Officers also recovered the demand note and handgun from the men's vehicle, he said.

Both were arrested and booked into the Vista jail on suspicion of conspiracy and attempted armed robbery.