Guard Trades Fire With 2 in Holdup Try

Two men exchanged gunfire with an armored truck guard in an unsuccessful robbery attempt outside a Van Nuys supermarket Friday, police said.

The incident occurred about 10:30 a.m. in the parking lot of a Lucky supermarket in the 7100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard near Sherman Way, said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Harry Mauk of the Van Nuys Division.

There were no injuries, and no money was taken, Mauk said.

Two men, one carrying a sawed-off shotgun, approached the guard as he took a money bag from his armored vehicle and stepped onto the parking lot, Mauk said.

The gunman and the guard, who was armed with a pistol, exchanged shots, and the guard retreated into the armored truck, Mauk said. He did not know how many shots were fired.

Another guard was at the wheel of the truck.

The gunmen fled in a white van and were chased by the guards’ truck. The van halted at Halbrent Avenue and Bassett Street, and the two men escaped on foot.

About a dozen officers, assisted by dogs and two helicopters, searched the area, including a floor-by-floor search of nearby Valley Presbyterian Hospital, Mauk said.

Hospital spokeswoman Cynthia Citron said that the search was conducted without incident and that patients remained calm. “We were doing our best to keep them unalarmed,” Citron said.

Many patients never realized what was happening because the officers moved through the hallways calmly in pairs without displaying weapons, she said. The dogs remained outside.

Citron said hospital visitors were delayed for 2 hours during the search.

Police said they were uncertain whether Friday’s robbery attempt was connected to a series of at least 10 armored truck robberies in Southern California since June, including one Oct. 14 in Panorama City in which a guard was killed.