3 Men Found Guilty in Robbery at Bar

Three men were convicted Tuesday of more than a dozen charges stemming from a March 14 holdup in which 22 patrons at a Van Nuys bar were robbed and held hostage.

A Van Nuys Superior Court jury deliberated less than a day before finding Otis Tooks, Arthur Taylor and Albert G. Sutton guilty of 14 counts of robbery.

Judge Judith Meisels Ashmann scheduled sentencing Sept. 12.

Tooks, 31, of Compton, faces a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison. Taylor, 24, of Compton, and Sutton, 24, of San Dimas, could each receive up to 24 years, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver, who prosecuted the men. He said Tooks faces a longer sentence because of prior criminal convictions.

The men, armed with semiautomatic handguns and rifles, entered the Nice ‘N’ Easy bar about 7:30 p.m. They herded employees and customers--many of whom were gathered for a dart tournament--onto the dance floor, Dver said.

Tooks held the patrons at gunpoint, Sutton kept watch and Taylor ordered everyone to turn over their money and jewelry, threatening some victims with their lives, Dver said. One patron managed to escape and call police, who surrounded the bar, the prosecutor said. The men were apprehended as they tried to flee through a roof exit, dropping money and jewelry as they went, Dver added.

They had faced 22 robbery counts but eight were dropped for lack of evidence, in part because 10 victims would not testify because they did not want to miss work or were frightened, Dver said.