Local News in Brief : Charges Filed in Fatal Armored Car Holdup

Authorities said Wednesday that they have charged a man sought in the Dec. 15 slaying and robbery of an armored car guard, and police linked the man to a gang blamed for a string of such holdups.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block said the charges and a warrant for the arrest of Marchand Elliott, 20, were issued Dec. 22, but authorities kept quiet for a week to protect witnesses.

The sheriff released the suspect’s photograph and description and offered a $5,000 reward for his arrest in the slaying of guard Patrick Rooney, 35, who was walking to his armored car after making a cash pickup at a market on Lakewood Boulevard in Bellflower when an assailant shot him once in the head and took his money bag.

Elliott is also sought in connection with an armored car robbery Oct. 31 in Inglewood.

Authorities have been investigating 13 armored car holdups and three possibly related bank robberies over the last year in Los Angeles, Ventura and Riverside counties.

Block said there is not enough evidence to charge Elliott with other crimes.

But Los Angeles Police Detective Norman Roberge said he is believed to be part of a ring of as many as eight bandits whose increasingly brazen robberies have left two armored car guards dead.

“They’re a tightly knit group,” Roberge said. “There’s no doubt about it that this is a ruthless gang, and the killings that have taken place have been totally senseless.”