Man Held in Deaths at Sandwich Shop : Violence: Suspect had been fired from job at food outlet. Slayings raised concerns over late business hours required in franchise agreement.

A former employee of a Northridge sandwich shop has been arrested on suspicion of robbing the shop last month and shooting a clerk and the clerk’s lifelong friend to death, Los Angeles police said Wednesday.

James Robinson, 22, was arrested about 8 p.m. Tuesday outside the Northridge apartment he rented hours after James White and Brian Berry, both 19, were killed “execution style” by a robber at Subway Sandwiches at Devonshire Street and Zelzah Avenue, Deputy Chief Mark Kroeker said Wednesday.

Robinson, who police said was fired from the shop in October because he was suspected of stealing about $200, was being held without bail pending his arraignment today on murder and robbery charges in San Fernando Municipal Court. He denied being the killer, police said.

White, an employee of the shop for several months, and Berry, his best friend since the fourth grade, were in the shop about 1:30 a.m. on June 30 when an armed man walked in and demanded money, police said. White and Berry apparently cooperated, giving the robber all the money from the cash register and safe, police said.

But just before the robber fled with about $580 in cash, he shot both men in the head, police said.

It was unclear if either man knew Robinson, who had been fired before White was hired. Other employees said Robinson still came to the store occasionally to visit and buy sandwiches.

Detectives said they began to suspect Robinson, a meat wrapper at a Canoga Park grocery store, after leads poured in from the public. They declined to discuss which tips led to the arrest, and whether any of the tipsters would be eligible for the $35,000 in rewards offered by the Los Angeles City Council and the Subway sandwich companies.

Police said Robinson has a history of arrests, but characterized them as “nothing major.” Officers said he is not a suspect in a string of robberies at nearly 50 Los Angeles Subway shops since last July.

The families of White and Berry expressed relief over Robinson’s arrest at a news conference Wednesday. “I thank God” Robinson “is off the street,” said White’s mother, Kristine.

After Robinson’s arrest, detectives said they found the semiautomatic pistol they suspect was used in the murder. Also confiscated from Robinson’s second-floor apartment was other evidence linking him to the crime, including clothes matching a description by a witness, Lt. Al Durrer said.

In police interviews, though, Robinson denied involvement in the crime. “At this point, he’s given us some statements, but he’s not indicating that he’s the one who did it,” Detective Terry Richardson said.

Robinson, who was taking classes part time at Cal State Northridge, rented the apartment where he was arrested about 12 hours after the robbery. Manager Donna Lopez said he offered to pay for the first month’s rent with cash he had stuffed in a waist pack, but she insisted he get a money order instead.

Lopez and former co-workers described Robinson as a relaxed man with a good sense of humor who seemed hard working. All expressed surprise at his arrest. “It blew me away,” said Shawn Keohen, 17, of Northridge, who worked with Robinson at the sandwich shop. “It was weird.”

The killings shocked other Subway franchise owners in the San Fernando Valley, many of whom repeated longstanding complaints that the operating hours mandated by the company put them at risk. Franchise agreements require stores to remain open until midnight on weeknights and 2 a.m. on weekends.

Ruth Sender, president of OhCal Foods Inc., the Woodland Hills company that supervises Subway franchises in Southern California, said the firm’s executives were “heavily considering” reducing operating hours and increasing security measures required in each shop. In the meantime, local franchisees have been told to “do what they need to do,” Sender said. Regardless of whether Subway World Headquarters in Milford, Conn., changes the approved operating hours, shop manager Stuart Schlosser said, he now closes at 10 p.m. on weeknights and at midnight on weekends.