Local News in Brief : Robbery Trial Opens for Darrell Allums

Former UCLA and professional basketball player Darrell Allums stole cash and soft drinks from 14 Domino’s Pizza deliverymen, often threatening his victims with a screwdriver or knife, during a 1987 robbery spree around south Los Angeles County, a prosecutor told a Torrance Superior Court jury this week.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Julie Sulman made the allegations in her opening statement Tuesday on the first day of Allums’ trial on 14 counts of robbery and armed robbery.

If convicted, Allums could be sentenced to up to 13 years in prison.

Allums, 30, acting as his own attorney, told the jury: “I am not a robber, I am innocent of these crimes.”

Sulman said that the thief--a “very tall” black man--confronted Domino’s employees as they attempted to deliver pizzas at homes in Torrance, Gardena, Long Beach and several other communities. The bandit took Domino’s cash pouches and often soft drinks, but usually left the pizzas, she said.

Allums--the 6-foot-9, 230-pound backup center on the UCLA team that advanced to the NCAA finals in 1980--said he is the victim of faulty identifications by the deliverymen and of a “vindictive” police investigator.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.