2 Arrested as Robbery Attempt Ends in Shootout : Northridge: An officer and a suspect are wounded. Police say the case may be linked to a string of similar holdups at area restaurants.

Police are investigating a possible link between an attempted robbery and shootout at a Northridge restaurant Wednesday and a string of similar robberies in which restaurant patrons were ordered to lie on the floor while they were stripped of their cash and valuables.

One officer and one suspect were shot in Wednesday’s incident.

Howard Holt, 20, and Claude Davis, 27, both of Pacoima, were arrested after the shooting at the Grandview Chinese Restaurant and held on suspicion of attempted murder, said Los Angeles Police Lt. John Zorn.

“The robbery section is very interested in these two arrests and will be looking to see if they can link them to particular crimes,” Zorn said. At least five similar incidents have taken place recently, including one in which a restaurant musician was fatally shot.

The officer wounded in Wednesday’s shooting, Dennis Hinman, 43, was listed in good condition at Northridge Hospital Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the hip, Officer Francine Spada said. Holt was wounded in the wrist and was treated at Northridge before being transferred to the County-USC Medical Center jail ward.

Holt and Davis entered the restaurant in the 8500 block of Reseda Boulevard shortly after 2 a.m. armed with a .44 magnum revolver and an assault weapon resembling an M-16, Spada said.

As the two entered the restaurant, manager Frieda Lui fled to a back office and set off a silent alarm, notifying police, Spada said.

Hinman, a 16-year department veteran, and his partner, Willard Howard, 31, drove up to the restaurant and saw Holt, Davis and one of the robbery victims near the doorway, Spada said.

“Both Holt and Davis were armed and fired rounds at the officers as they deployed,” Spada said. The two officers returned fire, she said.

After the shooting, Holt and Davis fled into the restaurant, Spada said. Later, Holt appeared in the doorway holding a customer, Michael Oldenburg, 35, at gunpoint, Spada said. Officers persuaded Holt to release the man and drop his weapon, and then arrested him.

About 6:30 a.m., after Davis failed to surrender, members of the police SWAT team entered the building and freed Lui, who remained in hiding throughout the four-hour ordeal, Spada said. Lui was not injured.

A police dog later found Davis hiding in a storage room and bit him in the shoulder, Spada said. Davis was treated at Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills before being booked.

The shooting is the latest in a series of similar robberies in the San Fernando Valley, police said.

“All of these have a similar MO,” said Detective Wayne Newton of the Devonshire Division. “They come in near closing time and it’s a take down, where they take everybody down and rob the patrons as well as the bar-restaurant.”

Police had compiled a composite drawing based on information received from past robberies, Newton said.

In November, drummer Vartan Mouradin, 31, of Studio City was shot to death at the Grecian Village restaurant during a robbery.

Two masked robbers entered the Studio City nightclub and ordered 25 patrons and employees to the floor.

Mouradin was shot when he seemed reluctant to surrender his property, police said.

On Friday, two robbers entered the Cinnamon Cinder bar about 1:30 a.m., ordered patrons and employees to lie on the floor, and then stole cash and car keys.

Other restaurants robbed include the White Horse Inn in Northridge, Reuben’s restaurant in Northridge and Casey’s Tavern in Canoga Park.