Masked Gunman Robs Canoga Park Sears

Five employees at a Sears Roebuck & Co. store in Canoga Park locked themselves in a basement storeroom late Saturday night for about three hours following a robbery by a masked gunman, police said.

The robbery occurred at 9 p.m. at the store in the 6400 block of Fallbrook Avenue, just before the store was due to close, police said. The robber broke into a central cash-counting room and took an undetermined amount of cash, said Lt. Richard Blankenship.

The employees, alerted of the robbery by a security guard, believed that the gunman was still in the store and sought safety in the basement. Officers escorted them out at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.