Bulletproof Vest Sales Curbs Sought

Rookie Downey Police Officer Joel Willis was working the graveyard shift the morning of Oct. 9 when the call came across his squad car radio that a robbery was in progress at a local discount department store.

Speeding through the darkness, Willis, driving alone, arrived at the PACE Membership Warehouse, where he positioned himself to cover the store’s front door.

Within moments, he recalled, “rounds were flying all over the place.”

Willis was shot three times from behind, but spun and emptied his gun in the direction of the fire he saw streaming from the gun barrels of his assailants, who escaped.

“The whole thing caught us by surprise,” the officer said.

Willis, who has been a police officer for only a year, reticently recounted his frightening confrontation with a gang of apparently highly professional criminals at a news conference Thursday, during which he called for restrictions on the sale of bulletproof vests of the type apparently worn by the six gunmen who invaded PACE.

The conference was called by a manufacturer of the vests, Santa Fe Springs-based U.S. Armor Corp.

In the aftermath of the Downey incident, the company said it would seek legislation that would severely restrict who could purchase the vests.

“We need it, it’s obvious,” Willis said, holding a crutch. “They were wearing vests and they got away.”

Willis was one of two Downey officers wounded in the wild shoot-out with the robbers, who were armed with an arsenal of semiautomatic rifles and carried two-way radios.

Officer Randy Ewing, 36, is still hospitalized, recovering from his wounds.

One suspect was captured after the attempted robbery, but later released. Downey police are still seeking the others, who left behind their weapons and thousands of dollars in their hasty escape.

Downey Police Capt. Dennis Chelstrom said investigators are working with other law enforcement agencies to determine if there is any connection between the sophisticated robbery attempt and others. He declined to elaborate on what, if anything, police had uncovered.

“It’s difficult for me to say that right now without blowing a whole lot of stuff,” Chelstrom said.

U.S. Armor Corp. officials are proposing that the sale of bulletproof vests be restricted to police officers, court and probation officials, military personnel, private investigators and private armed security guards. The company is also calling for a law requiring a three-year mandatory jail sentence for anyone who commits an armed felony while wearing body armor.

Bulletproof vests sell from $200 up to $1,500, and can be easily purchased in uniform stores.

“We are in business to protect police officers. That’s what we do,” said company president Stephen Armellino. “Having an armed felon, shot by a wounded police officer, get up and run away, as may have been the case with Joel, cannot be tolerated.”

The company’s efforts are supported by the Police Officer’s Research Assn. of California. Joe Flannagan, an official of the 35,000-member lobbying organization, said the group will press state legislators to act on the issue in January.

“What we are trying to do is curb the crooks from wearing body armor,” Flannagan said. “. . . I know we have laws on the books restricting people buying guns and this is right along that line.”

Willis, who expects to be back at work in two or three months, said he went into shock after being wounded and does not remember much of what happened. Afterward, he said, he learned that bullets had hit him in the buttocks and a hip, while another went through his right arm before being stopped by his vest.

Even though the Downey Police Department does not require officers to wear vests, Willis, who has been given a new one by U.S. Armor, said it is a matter of routine for him.

“I wear my vest every time I wear my uniform,” he said.