New Details Released in Kidnaping of D.A. Reiner’s Driver, Theft of His Car

Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner’s driver was briefly kidnaped and threatened with death Monday night when Reiner’s county car was stolen by two armed thieves outside the fashionable Spago restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, according to new details released Wednesday.

Authorities also disclosed that a 1973 Mercedes-Benz from which the gunmen emerged and which subsequently followed the stolen car before Reiner’s driver managed to escape was found late Tuesday in East Los Angeles. Sheriff’s investigators interviewed the owner of the car Wednesday afternoon, but “she was playing dumb” and was not considered a suspect in the robbery, according to Detective Howard Fairchild.

Fairchild added that “we have some ideas (concerning suspects) and have had some ideas since we started (investigating). But some have turned to mud.”

Reiner himself did not appear to be a target of the robbery, according to officials of both the Sheriff’s Department and district attorney’s office.

“Nobody knows exactly what they were after,” Reiner spokesman Al Albergate said. “But it seems clear they did not know it was the district attorney’s car.”

The robbery occurred while Reiner’s driver, district attorney’s investigator Henry Grayson, sat in the dark blue, radio-equipped 1986 Buick Park Avenue waiting for Reiner, his wife Diane, and their two children to leave the restaurant. The Reiners were celebrating the graduation of their daughter Annie, 11, from the sixth grade, according to a press release issued by Reiner’s office.

Two males entered the car shortly before 8 p.m., sandwiching Grayson between them in the front seat after one pointed a handgun at his head through an open window, officials said. As they drove off--with a third man following in the Mercedes-Benz--they informed Grayson that “they intended to kill him,” according to the press release.

Grayson, however, managed to escape on foot when the suspect with the gun was momentarily distracted. He then flagged down a passing motorist, identified himself and had the motorist follow the suspects.

Grayson was eventually able to provide investigators with a portion of the Mercedes-Benz’s license number. A witness provided the full number.

Reiner’s car had still not been recovered Wednesday afternoon.