Men Sent to Prison for Robbing Van Nuys Bar

Two Compton men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms Wednesday for robbing a Van Nuys bar and holding 22 patrons hostage.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Judith Meisels Ashmann sentenced Otis Tooks, 31, to 35 years in prison and Arthur Taylor, 24, to 24 years for the March 14 robbery of the Nice ‘N’ Easy Bar.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Dver said Tooks received a longer sentence--the maximum term--because of prior criminal convictions.

A jury last month deliberated less than a day before finding Tooks, Taylor and Albert G. Sutton guilty of 14 counts of robbery. Sentencing for Sutton, 24, of San Dimas, is scheduled for Oct. 10.

The three men, armed with semiautomatic handguns and rifles, entered the bar on Sepulveda Boulevard about 7:30 p.m. and herded the bar’s employees and customers onto the dance floor, Dver said.

While Tooks held the patrons at gunpoint and Sutton kept watch, Taylor ordered everyone to turn over money and jewelry, threatening to kill them, Dver said.

One patron managed to sneak out and call police, who surrounded the bar and arrested the three as they fled through a roof exit.

The men originally faced 22 robbery counts, but eight charges were dropped, partly because 10 victims were unwilling to testify because they did not want to miss work or were frightened, Dver said.