3 Robbers Shot at by Jewelry Store Owner, Escape Pursuers
Three armed men robbed a North Hollywood jewelry store Thursday, were shot at by the store owner and fled with the owner and a carload of teen-agers in pursuit, Los Angeles police said.
No one was injured in the robbery at Altobelli Jewelers in the 4400 block of Lankershim Boulevard, Detective Richard Jamieson said.
Three men, at least two of whom were armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a handgun, knocked a customer to the floor. The bandits used sledgehammers to smash display cases and grabbed an unknown amount of jewelry from the cases and from behind the counter, he said.
The owner, Cosmo Altobelli, fired one shot from a shotgun while an employee in an adjoining office called police.
The suspects fled to a waiting car, which sped off. A carload of teen-agers saw Altobelli chasing the car on foot and offered to help, Jamieson said. Altobelli jumped into the youths’ vehicle, and they chased the robbers’ car onto the Hollywood Freeway, but lost sight of it near the Van Nuys Boulevard exit.
Police said they were seeking the teen-agers to question them for leads.
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