US robber returns cash, hands himself in after holding up petrol station

A Californian man has had a sudden change of heart after robbing a petrol station, returning three hours later to give back the money he stole and wait for the police.

Cyle Warren Abbott Jnr allegedly walked into a service station in Eureka on early Sunday morning with a semiautomatic pistol and demanded money from the till, The Press Democrat reports.

Police say Abbott Jnr made off with a small amount of cash and two bottles of beer before officers made it to the scene.

Shortly after 9am, just three after the initial incident, police received a call from the clerk that robber had returned.

They rushed back to the scene where they found Abbott Jnr sitting in the bathroom, waiting to turn himself in having returned the money he took to the clerk.

Police said Abbott Jnr apologised for robbing the service station and said he was trying to turn his life around, hoping to use the money he robbed by leaving town and starting afresh somewhere else.

He told police the pistol he used was actually a toy BB gun and that he had thrown it away in a bushland area, but it has not yet been located.

Despite his remorse Abbott Jnr was arrested on suspicion of robbery and for violating probation.

He has been placed in custody at Humboldt County Correctional Facility with bail set at US$50,000 (A$56,750).