2 Tied to Series of Area Holdups at Restaurants : Crime: The men are arrested after an attempted robbery in Northridge. They also are suspects in the slaying of a musician in North Hollywood.

Fingerprints and witnesses have tied two men arrested during an attempted robbery in Northridge this week to a series of heists at other San Fernando Valley restaurants in which armed thieves terrorized customers and employees, Los Angeles police said Thursday.

“It’s our opinion they’re responsible for several restaurant robberies in the Valley,” Detective Norm Jackson said.

During the six to eight robberies, including incidents in Burbank, Canoga Park and Northridge in the past three months, two thieves armed with a handgun and an assault rifle forced patrons and employees to lie on the floor near closing time, stripped them of their cash and jewelry, then robbed the bar or restaurant of its proceeds, police said.

The arrested men--Howard D. Holt, 28, and Claude E. Davis, 27, both paroled felons from Pacoima--are also suspects in the Nov. 27 killing of a restaurant musician during an armed robbery in North Hollywood. Holt has had numerous parole violations and Davis once escaped from a state prison but was recaptured.

Witnesses to that incident at the Grecian Village restaurant described the gunmen as extremely coldblooded because they methodically robbed patrons after shooting band drummer Vartan Mourabian, 33, then walked calmly out the door, police said.

But North Hollywood detectives said Thursday they are still studying evidence and are not yet prepared to seek murder charges against Holt and Davis.

“We have nothing concrete yet,” Detective Mike Coffey said.

Holt and Davis were scheduled for arraignment in Van Nuys Municipal Court today for the aborted robbery of the Grandview Chinese Restaurant in Northridge early Wednesday, Lt. John Zorn said. Charges for other robberies are expected to be filed soon, Jackson said.

Zorn said the two would face charges of attempted robbery and assault with a deadly weapon in the incident, which occurred in the 8500 block of Reseda Boulevard shortly after 2 a.m.

Holt and Davis also will be charged with attempted murder on police for shooting at Devonshire Division Officers Dennis Hinman and Willard Howard as they responded to the robbery, Zorn said.

Hinman, 43, was wounded in the buttocks. He was in good condition Thursday at an area hospital, Zorn said.

Holt was wounded in the left wrist when the officers returned fire. He initially fled with Davis inside the restaurant, then returned to a doorway holding a customer hostage and surrendered after police persuaded him to release the man unharmed.

Davis was arrested more than four hours later after members of a police SWAT team combed the building and a police dog routed him from a storage room.

Both were being held without bail--Holt in the jail ward of County-USC Hospital and Davis at police headquarters, Zorn said.

Restaurant owner Frieda Lui, who secreted herself in an office and pressed a silent emergency alarm during the robbery, was freed unharmed from her hiding place by police. Zorn credited Lui Thursday with having the presence of mind to hide and notify police.

Holt and Davis were both on parole from state prison, according to the California Department of Corrections.

Holt was paroled in July after serving 10 months of a four-year sentence for drug dealing, a state spokeswoman said. He also has served time in state prison for burglary, and violated his parole numerous times, she said.

Davis was paroled in August after serving nearly seven years in prison. He was initially sentenced to 16 months in state prison for drug dealing but escaped in 1985 and was subsequently arrested and sentenced to federal prison at Terminal Island, the spokeswoman said.