Jeweler ‘Lucky’ to Have Survived Holdup in Mall : Crime: Brother says victim was almost shot in the heart during a brazen robbery attempt in Westminster.

Owners of a Westminster Mall jewelry store were cleaning up shattered glass and taking stock of their losses Saturday after a brazen robbery attempt the previous night that left one man wounded and four suspects jailed.

The victim, Parounak Karadolian, 34, of Fountain Valley, a co-owner of Dekara Designs, was treated at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center for a gunshot wound to the left arm and released late Friday, said Westminster Police Lt. Richard Main.

“He’s doing all right, but it was big shock,” said Setrag Karadolian, the victim’s brother. “He’s lucky that he didn’t get shot in the heart.”

The brother said one of the suspects had aimed a gun at his brother’s chest, but his brother grabbed the gunman’s hand at the last minute.

“He pulled the hand up so the shot hit him in the shoulder,” said Setrag Karadolian. “But he has a burn on the hand from the shot.”

Sherman M. Anderson, 30, Gregory D. Ford, 19, and Travon E. Clardy, 18, all of Los Angeles, were in custody in Orange County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. A 15-year-old youth, also of Los Angeles, was being held at Juvenile Hall.

The shooting occurred Friday about 8:45 p.m., just before closing time, when three males ran into the store and fired several shots at the display cases, said Main.

After scooping up handfuls of jewels, the suspects ran out of the mall in a hail of gunfire and fled in a Oldsmobile that had been reported stolen in Culver City, Main said.

The suspects were pursued by several patrol cars and captured after they abandoned their car near Newland Street and Hazard Avenue.

Setrag Karadolian, who with Parounak and another brother co-owns Dekara, said his brother is doing as well as can be expected after the terrifying ordeal.

After being wounded, his brother “ran out of the store because he thought they would shoot him again,” Karadolian said. “He ran out looking for a guard but couldn’t find anyone. Then he ran toward J. Herbert Hall (another jewelry store) and collapsed.”

Karadolian said that according to his brother’s account, the suspects fired shots toward the ceiling as they ran out of the store to clear an exit path.

Police said no one else was injured in the robbery. A mall spokeswoman said that many of the stores were closed or closing, and that few customers remained in the building because of the late hour.

Karadolian said it is the first time their store had been robbed, but he complained that there should have been more security in an area that has at least three other jewelers.

“They perhaps should have been more aware that with three stores on the same side, that provides a target,” he said.

However, mall spokeswoman Kim Kelley said security at the building is adequate.

“In a situation like this, it wouldn’t have mattered how much security there was--it would have occurred anyway,” she said.

Kelley said the mall was operating normally Saturday with no apparent difference in business.

Meanwhile, Setrag said he was hopeful that his store would reopen either today or Monday, after repairs to display cases are completed.

He still does not know how much jewelry was taken. One mall employee found “five or six” rings that were dropped by the robbers and returned them to the store, he said. The police also found some gems in the suspects’ car.

“I was here until almost 2 a.m. (Saturday) and we’re still checking inventory today . . . it’s a shocking thing to happen,” he said.