PANORAMA CITY : 3 Men Arrested in Gas Station Slaying

Three men wanted in connection with the slaying of a gas station clerk in Panorama City were arrested Thursday after a chase, Los Angeles police said.

The men, whose names were not made public, are suspects in the Feb. 2 shooting death of Norair Akhverdian, 42, of Sunland during the robbery of a Shell station at 12858 Roscoe Blvd., Lt. Stella Mattson said.

As he left the station, the robber shot Akhverdian once in the upper torso, Mattson said. “It was just an out-and-out brutal killing,” she said.

Police got a break in their investigation when a white, Jeep-type vehicle, matching the description of the car used in the robbery, was identified as a getaway car by victims in five robberies Wednesday in the northeast San Fernando Valley and North Hollywood.

Police patrolling a Panorama City intersection Thursday saw a vehicle matching that description and tried to pull it over, Mattson said.

The vehicle did not stop and struck a car as it traveled west on Woodman Avenue east of Roscoe, Mattson said. It then crashed into a sign while trying to turn onto Saticoy Street.

Two suspects fled, but were quickly caught and arrested, Mattson said. Officers combed the area with police dogs and caught the third suspect hiding in bushes near a storage facility.

Two guns were recovered from the vehicle, Mattson said. The men were arrested on suspicion of murder and strong-arm robbery, she said.