Gunman Kills Merchant in $80,000 Robbery; Deputies Seize 2 Suspects

A robber shot and killed a Hawthorne merchant who had just withdrawn $80,000 from a bank in Lawndale on Friday, then wounded another man who apparently was trying to block his escape, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Authorities are still looking for the man who robbed and fatally shot Gin Kim Byung, 40, in the parking lot of a California First Bank branch, then met an accomplice a few blocks away and escaped, Sheriff’s Deputy Sam Jones said.

Late Friday night deputies arrested two suspects whom they identified as accomplices. Johnny Grim, 29, and Frank Adams, 24, were arrested at the Lennox home of Adams’ girlfriend. Deputies refused to say which man was believed to have been waiting a few blocks away in a getaway car.

“All evidence seems to indicate that the suspect knew about the withdrawal and was waiting,” Jones said.

Byung was apparently going to use the $80,000 for a check-cashing service he ran out of his Hawthorne liquor store, another investigator said.

Jones said the robber confronted Byung after the merchant entered his van in the parking lot of the bank at 15120 Hawthorne Blvd. The gunman shot Byung three times, pushed him into the passenger’s seat and drove off with the dying victim.

Byung’s body was found in his brown Dodge van, which was abandoned near Eastwood Avenue and 147th Street in Lawndale, Jones said. A .357 magnum revolver, apparently dropped by the gunman, was found in bushes nearby, he said.

Another man, August Cardino, 41, of Hawthorne, who apparently had witnessed the incident, followed the van to Eastwood, but was shot in the chest when he tried to halt the robber’s getaway, investigators said.

The gunman then escaped in a black Chevrolet El Camino driven by an accomplice, who was waiting nearby.

A school maintenance man, who was working about 200 yards from where the van was found, said he heard Cardino tell onlookers that he was a former police officer from New Jersey and that he was shot while trying to stop the robber.

Cardino was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he was listed in serious but stable condition Friday night.

“The guy said he was an ex-cop from New Jersey or something and he was bleeding from his shoulder,” said Ritt Poling, 29, who rushed to the scene after hearing yells for help.

Jones said investigators were not immediately able to interview Cardino.

Karim Sosa, 11, said he was playing in the street when he saw the van turn onto Eastwood.

“It came around the corner so fast that it almost tipped over,” he said. “I heard something, but I thought it was a backfire or something.”