Store Owner Kills Robber--Fourth He Has Shot

Lance Thomas wasn’t kidding when he told people that no robber would walk out of his watch store on Santa Monica Boulevard.

On Aug. 19, 1989, he inflicted a bullet wound just below one gunman’s nose. The man, who had tried to rob The Watch Shop, was taken to a hospital on a stretcher and has since been sentenced to prison, police said.

On Nov. 27 of that year, despite wounds in his neck and shoulder, Thomas shot and killed two armed robbers at his tiny Westside shop.

On Tuesday, Thomas’ determination to defend himself was tested again.

About 1:45 p.m., the mustachioed Thomas buzzed open the heavy iron grate in front of the store to allow a man and a woman to enter. Thomas buys and sells expensive Rolexes and antique pocket timepieces.

After some talk about a broken watch, the man vaulted the counter and said he was robbing the store, said Lt. Ron Hall, commander of detectives at the LAPD’s West Los Angeles station.

But Thomas was ready. The intruder shot him in the neck, but the store owner grabbed two semiautomatic weapons and shot the man dead, Hall said.

The would-be robber, Valdeas O’Neal, 33, died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and head, police said. O’Neal had been paroled three months ago after serving eight years in state prison for armed robbery.

The woman who had accompanied O’Neal into the store escaped, police said.

“He likes handguns,” Hall said of Thomas. “It’s awfully dangerous to confront armed bandits, but I certainly don’t belittle anyone who wants to protect himself.”

The Watch Co. was closed Wednesday while Thomas recovers from the superficial neck wound.

Neighboring merchants said they were not surprised that Thomas had shot an intruder.

“He’s said before if anyone comes in there (to rob him), they’re not coming out,” said Sharon Mnich, owner of a balloon shop across the street. “He can whip out four different guns no matter where he is in the shop.”

“He is tough,” said Tavi Castor, proprietor of a nearby print shop, sticking his thumb up to show his admiration.

O’Neal might have realized what he was up against if he had noticed a cartoon beside The Watch Shop’s front door.

Glued inside the store’s display window, the cartoon shows a woman saying, “I Like Lance. He reminds me of Wild Bill Hickock.”

“Lance IS Wild Bill Hickock,” her cartoon friend replies.