Slain Men Suspected in Crime Spree

Two of three robbers killed early Monday in a barrage of police gunfire following a holdup at a McDonald’s restaurant in Sunland were former employees of the fast-food chain, authorities said Tuesday.

Jesus Arango, 25, and Herbert Burgos, 37, both of Venice, had worked at McDonald’s outlets in downtown and West Los Angeles. They later used their knowledge of how the chain operates to commit at least nine other robberies of restaurants in the Los Angeles area since August, police said.

“They had both worked at McDonald’s and knew each other from that,” Detective Jay Rush said. “They knew the routine. We think that’s why they picked (the restaurants to rob).”

During a string of robberies that included at least eight McDonald’s and one Carl’s Jr., the suspects often wore Halloween masks and carried handguns or sawed-off shotguns, said Lt. William Hall of the LAPD unit that investigates officer-involved shootings.

“They almost always tied up the managers. In four of the robberies they followed a manager home, kidnaped him and forced him back to the store to open the safe,” Hall said.

Although the night managers of other restaurants told police they were threatened verbally and with guns during the holdups, none was ever hurt. The manager of the McDonald’s robbed Monday was found tied up but unharmed inside the restaurant.

Investigators said Tuesday they were still piecing together details of the shooting at 2 a.m. Monday in front of the restaurant at 7950 Foothill Blvd. The four suspects were shot by nine officers assigned to the Special Investigations Section who had followed them and moved in after the robbery.

Hall said several thousand dollars in cash was found in the suspects’ 1987 bronze Thunderbird, along with Halloween masks and three pellet guns.

The fourth man shot by police survived and was arrested on suspicion of murder and robbery. He was transferred on Tuesday to the jail ward at County-USC Medical Center, Los Angeles police said.

Police said the SIS officers fired 35 shots at the suspects after one of the men allegedly pointed a gun at the officers. No officers were injured.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office identified the three dead men as Arango, Burgos, and Juan Bahena, 20, of Hollywood. The cause of death of each man was listed as multiple gunshot wounds. No other details were made available Tuesday.

The fourth suspect, Alfredo Olivas, 19, of Hollywood, remained in serious condition with two gunshot wounds. Detective Rush said the district attorney’s office will be asked today to charge Olivas with the deaths of the other robbers under a California law that makes a criminal suspect responsible for any deaths that occur during a crime.

Police had not determined how or when Arango and Burgos met Bahena and Olivas. But authorities said Olivas was arrested last year in a North Hollywood robbery in which two of Arango’s cousins also were charged.

According to court records, Olivas was arrested following the Nov. 5, 1989, robbery of a Lamps Plus store in North Hollywood but later released uncharged. During the robbery three men tied up employees and emptied a safe.

Olivas had formerly worked at the Lamps Plus store on Sherman Way and became a suspect because investigators believed the robbers knew the location of the store’s safe. However, he was released when the victims could not identify him. Police did charge two other men, Aramis Gomez, 24, and Ricardo Padron, 21, with robbery in that case.

Charles Mathews, an attorney representing Gomez, said his client and Padron are Arango’s cousins.

Because of similarities between the restaurant robberies and the lamp store holdup, police said they will review other similar robberies to determine if the same suspects were involved, Rush said.

The investigation that culminated in Monday’s shooting began after the Sept. 4 robbery of a McDonald’s outlet in the 400 block of Hill Street in downtown. Arango was employed at the restaurant at the time and was fired after failing a lie-detector test about the robbery, police said. A McDonald’s spokesman said Arango resigned “for personal reasons.”

After detectives determined that there were several similar robberies throughout the city, the SIS officers began watching Arango.

On Sunday night, the SIS officers watched Arango pick up the other three suspects in his 1987 Thunderbird and drive to the Sunland restaurant.

The four men parked outside the closed restaurant for 90 minutes, then walked up and broke in through a side door, police said. Police said the men moved too quickly for the surveillance officers to arrest them before entry.

The suspects forced manager Robin Cox, 24, to open the restaurant’s safe, and the suspects left with a bag full of money. As they got back into the Thunderbird, police quickly moved in and the shooting began.

Olivas and Bahena were hit by gunfire as they sat in the back seat. Burgos jumped from the car and was shot as he ran up a nearby embankment.

Arango was shot to death behind the wheel of his car, which carried personalized license plates that read PICOSO1, meaning in Spanish “young and full of life.”

Times staff writer Hector Tobar contributed to this story.