High School Store Robbed at Gunpoint; Suspect Captured

A robber armed with an assault weapon stole $7,000 from the student store at James Monroe High School in Sepulveda on Monday, but was captured an hour later when he returned in the guise of a student to retrieve the loot he had left stashed on campus, authorities said.

School police officials said Kenny Anderson, 19, returned to Monroe to recover the cash hidden in his car, which he was forced to leave behind locked gates in the school’s parking lot. Anderson initially eluded school police but was arrested moments later after two athletic coaches subdued him.

“It was just dumb luck--when you’re just in the right place at the right time,” coach Wayne Hasselbrinck said after the capture.

According to school custodian Mario Jordan, Anderson apparently arrived at the campus about 5:45 a.m.--two hours before school began. Jordan said he saw the suspect prowling the parking lot in a car before pulling into a parking space.

Authorities said Anderson then waited for the store to open and classes to begin. At about 8:30 a.m., he went to the store in the campus lunch area and, at gunpoint, ordered finance manager Bello Isabela to open the safe, authorities said.

The safe contained $7,000 in receipts from the school cafeteria, last Friday’s football game and miscellaneous sales, school officials said. Assistant Principal Angelo Porco said Anderson forced Isabela to lie on the floor and took the frightened man’s wallet so he “would have (Isabela’s) address” if anything happened.

Porco said Anderson tried to flee with the money but was apparently forced to abandon the loot in his car when he discovered that the gated parking lot was locked.

Anderson then returned to the campus on foot posing as a student, sporting a different shirt and papers and books stuffed under one arm, Porco said. The suspect entered a gate manned by Hasselbrinck, remarked that he was late for class and even dropped the name of a school counselor, Hasselbrinck said.

But the bearded physical education teacher said he deliberately dallied in opening the locked gate because he knew that school police were en route and because he noticed that Anderson matched a description given out over the school radio.

“I fumbled with my keys,” Hasselbrinck said. “Then I saw the (school) police officers pull up.”

Hasselbrinck said he let Anderson onto campus but then hastily locked the gate behind the suspect as school police officers arrived.

Anderson managed to elude the officers and scaled the fence back to where Hasselbrinck stood. Hasselbrinck and another coach grabbed him and held him while the two officers climbed over the fence.

“He tried to break away from me a couple times,” Hasselbrinck said. “But I held him in a bear hug.”

After arresting Anderson, school police recovered the loot, the gun and Isabela’s wallet from the car. He was booked on suspicion of robbery and was being held at the Los Angeles Police Devonshire Division jail Monday afternoon in lieu of $35,000 bail, Detective Wayne Newton said.

Newton said police were investigating the possibility of a link between Monday’s robbery and a series of similar robberies throughout Los Angeles over the last year.

Monroe Principal Joan Elam said that Anderson, despite his knowledge of the counselor’s name, did not appear to be a former student and that it was the first time the student store had been robbed.

“We hope it’s the last time,” she added.