Couple Suspected of Planning Fatal Robbery Arrested

A man and a woman suspected of masterminding an armored car robbery in East Los Angeles have been arrested, but the two gunmen who pulled off the heist and shot a courier to death remained at large Wednesday.

Anthony Salas, 29, a guard for the Federal Armored Express company, was slain as he made a pick-up Tuesday at a crowded Department of Motor Vehicles office on Mission Drive. It was the sixth holdup of an armored car courier in the Los Angeles area in the last year, and it prompted the DMV to seek added security for its Los Angeles offices.

Using attack dogs and helicopters, police scoured the neighborhoods surrounding the DMV office after the shooting. A red 1982 Toyota Celica that police said the gunmen had fled in was found about a mile away.

The car was registered to an apartment address in the 1700 block of Cherokee Avenue in Hollywood. Late Tuesday, detectives armed with search warrants went to the apartment and arrested Mirna Guerra, 19, and Oscar Mendoza, 22.

Both are from El Salvador and were booked on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder, police spokesmen said. They were being held in jail without bail.

Another man arrested with the pair at the apartment was booked on an unrelated misdemeanor warrant. He was identified as Gil Sanchez, 19.

“We believe they (Guerra and Mendoza) were involved in the planning of the robbery,” Lt. Fred Nixon said. The LAPD spokesman would not elaborate but added that the actual triggerman and an accomplice were still being sought.

In a house-to-house search of the area surrounding the DMV office, police also found a discarded duffel bag containing more than $10,000 stolen in the holdup, as well as guns and clothing allegedly used by the suspects.

Salas, the slain courier, had arrived at the DMV office shortly before 1 p.m. Tuesday, entered the vault area, dropped off one bag and picked up another containing receipts, checks and cash.

His partner had remained inside the armored car, in accordance with company policy. As Salas neared the exit, two men--one with a pistol drawn--approached him from behind. The gunman shot Salas in the back and head, and he was pronounced dead on the scene.

The DMV office was reopened Wednesday but eight employees--among an estimated 50 to 60 employees and customers who witnessed the shooting--said they were too distraught to work and were given the day off, DMV spokesman Bill Gengler said.

“The events of yesterday got to them,” he said. “They were very emotionally upset.”

In addition, the DMV has asked State Police to post additional guards and take other security measures at several of its offices in the Los Angeles area.

Gengler said the added security will be a temporary measure.

Although State Police officers are frequently posted at DMV installations, none was assigned to the Mission Road office on Tuesday. An armed investigator with security and other duties was present however, Gengler said.

Despite the flurry of armored car robberies, police said they have not been able to link the DMV holdup to the earlier crimes.

“There’s nothing to show there’s a connection,” Nixon said.