2 Plead Innocent in Robbery Ring Case; Threats Told

Two suspected members of a Vietnamese robbery ring pleaded not guilty Tuesday before a Van Nuys Superior Court judge, who said threats against witnesses in the case have been reported.

Judge Darlene E. Schempp mentioned the reported threats at the request of Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino. The prosecutor said two witnesses reported receiving telephone calls they believed were “an attempt to dissuade them from testifying in court.”

D’Agostino said: “Anytime threats are made toward any witness, it is not to be taken lightly.”

Tin Duc Nguyen, 21, of Spokane, Wash., and Chien Trong Nguyen, 22, a transient, pleaded not guilty to felony charges of residential robbery, auto theft, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.

Called ‘Very Dangerous’

“These people are very dangerous,” said Detective Jim Bryan of the Los Angeles Police Department. Two robbery victims reported receiving telephone calls urging them not to testify, he said. The caller identified himself as a friend or relative of one of the defendants, he said.

Sammy M. Weiss, the lawyer for Chien Trong Nguyen, said his client’s family members deny making threats. Nonetheless, he said, “I told them not to go near the victims.”

The defendants, who authorities do not believe are related, were arrested Nov. 2 with 13 others during police raids of two Van Nuys homes.

Nine other adults have been charged with felonies, including auto theft, burglary, and receiving stolen property. Two juveniles have been turned over to juvenile authorities, and two other juveniles have been released.

Detectives who witnessed stolen cars being stripped outside the Van Nuys houses went inside and found more car parts and jewelry, which robbery victims later identified, Bryan said. The defendants also were identified by other robbery victims.

Identification an Issue

Weiss said he might challenge the witnesses’ identifications of the suspects if the case goes to trial.

Another alleged threat took place Nov. 18, the day of Chien Trong Nguyen’s preliminary hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court, authorities said.

Plainclothes police saw Chien Trong Nguyen’s brother, Nam Trong Nguyen, 24, of Canoga Park, making intimidating gestures toward a witness while the witness was testifying, Bryan said. The brother has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of dissuading a witness and is awaiting trial.

The defendants are suspected members of a loosely affiliated group of Vietnamese robbers who prey on Vietnamese communities in Southern California, Bryan said. Members of the group, for which police could provide no name, are also suspected of robberies in Vietnamese communities as far away as Houston and Seattle, he said.

Detectives have identified 56 members of the group and have attributed 18 residential robberies to them in the Los Angeles area since October, 1985, he said.

Chien Trong Nguyen and Tin Duc Nguyen were among six people arrested Oct. 5 after a standoff with police at a Chatsworth sushi bar, Bryan said.

Bryan disclosed Tuesday that the standoff was the result of a setup by a tipster, Tony Nguyen, 24, of Van Nuys, who told police that a group of Vietnamese gang members threatened him with a gun after he confronted them with the suspicion that they had robbed his uncle. Tony Nguyen’s information helped police find the six at the sushi bar, the detective said.

Following the standoff, the six were freed after Tony Nguyen, who is not related to the defendants, refused to cooperate, telling authorities he feared retribution, Bryan said. But Tony Nguyen did provide police with an address on Lennox Avenue where he said his assailants were stripping cars, Bryan said.

Yet when police raided the home at that address Nov. 2, they found Tony Nguyen there and arrested him on suspicion of auto theft, Bryan said. Detectives now suspect that he made up the story about the robbery of his uncle to betray his associates, Bryan said.